Restoration work at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, hit a familiar challenge for anyone who works on historic masonry: keeping water out without damaging the building’s original fabric.
The Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) said water seepage was noticed from parts of the iconic dome during the ongoing monsoon. After review, RLDA traced the leakage to two sources, water entering through stone masonry joints and moisture moving through naturally porous stones that have weathered over time. RLDA said the problem was not tied to a single defect.
For mason contractors and restoration teams, that distinction matters. Joint leakage and porous stone are different conditions, and they call for different treatments. RLDA said the stone joints have already been treated using lime-and-jaggery-based grout and gravity grouting, a traditional conservation approach recommended by the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee.
Addressing porous stones can be more complicated than repointing or grouting joints. RLDA said sealing porous stone requires specialized treatment that follows heritage conservation norms, since conventional waterproofing methods are not used on century-old heritage structures where interventions must preserve the original character.
To finalize the methodology and material composition, RLDA said it consulted structural consultants from Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute, along with conservation specialists and industry professionals affiliated with the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee.
RLDA said it has been entrusted with rectifying the leakage in the heritage building’s domes, and that the work is in progress with a completion target of Aug. 31, 2026.
Read the full, original article from Free Press Journal here.