Housing and land reclamation

The seven islands of Bombay were joined into one landmass only over a period of time.
(i)The earliest project began in 1784. The Bombay governor William Hornby approved the building of the great sea wall
which prevented the flooding of the low-lying areas of Bombay.
(ii)Since then, there have been several reclamation projects. The need for additional commercial space in the mid-
nineteenth century led to the formulation of several plans, both by government and private companies, for the
reclamation of more land from the sea.
(iii)Private companies became more interested in taking financial risks. In 1864, the Back Bay Reclamation Company won
the right to reclaim the western foreshore from the tip of Malabar Hill to the end of Colaba. Reclamation often meant the
levelling of the hills around Bombay.
(iv)As the population continued to increase rapidly in the early twentieth century, every bit of the available area was built
over and new areas were reclaimed from the sea.
(v)A successful reclamation project was undertaken by the Bombay Port Trust, which built a dry dock between 1914 and
1918 and used the excavated earth to create the 22-acre Ballard Estate. Subsequently, the famous Marine Drive of
Bombay was developed.