Backstory: The rise of Nariman Point from the sea

As part of this, the idea of the Backbay reclamation was first mooted in the 1860s the Backbay Reclamation Company was formed for the purpose, according to a TIFR report. But soon after land prices crashed, the company went into liquidation and the plan had to be shelved. It was revived in the 1920s but midway through it had already overshot its initial estimates of time and budget. This drew the attention of a prominent lawyer and member of the Congress, Khurshed Framji Nariman and Manu Subedar, a member of the Central Legislative Assembly, who led an attack on the administration both in the courts and in the press for financial irregularities. Eventually a large part of the project had to be shelved. A major portion of the part that was built was sold to the military and some 16 acres were incorporated into the Marine Drive and its sea-wall.

In the 1940s, Nariman proposed converting the place into a business district by reclaiming part of the land near Churchgate from the Arabian Sea. The shallow sea coast was filled with concrete cement along with steel at a cost of around three lakh rupees. Further reinforcements were carried out later.

Even though Nariman led the Backbay Enquiry Committee which exposed the rot by the British engineer George Buchanan, it is after him that the developed area is now named. The city’s last major reclamation from the sea, at Nariman Point, happened in the 1960s and 70s when many of the present day office towers came up. What followed was a construction boom. The Oberoi Hotel (then called the Oberoi-Sheraton) came up in April 1973, the Air India building in 1974, as did many of today’s office buildings. The boom was marred by accusations of collusion between the government and builders but by the 1980s, Nariman Point had become the country’s premier office district, with properties priced at rates that were among the highest in the world.