Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has taken the initiative to not only conserve the heritage buildings of the city but also to utilise the facilities for something more constructive. The old Indian United Mills 2 and 3 near the Byculla Zoo in south Mumbai that are already listed as heritage buildings, will now be revamped as Textile Mill Museum by the end of the year 2012.
Ashish Kumar Singh, Additional Municipal Commissioner shares, " We are considering a budget of Rs 120 crores for this project but nothing has been finalised yet. Mumbai has been the cradle of textiles and we will be putting forward the traditional and the contemporary together at the museum to showcase the evolution of textiles, crafts and the whole industrialisation process. Though the display and the layout are being worked upon at this point of time, we are planning to incorporate exhibitions, state-of-the-art auditoriums for seminars and films to be screened and other such interactive opportunities within the museum. It will be open for public not only as a tourist spot but also as a resource for historical conservation."
The museum is also going to showcase some of the machineries used at the looms to depict the process of cotton spinning and cloth making. Also the plan is to include a gallery to display some of the traditional fabrics that were worn in Mumbai since from the British era. The scope for including other interesting sections like the one that would capture the social life of the mill workers or the celebration of Ganesh Chathurthi, are also being evaluated.
