Urbanist, engineer Shirish B Patel leaves his imprint on Maximum City
Shirish Patel at his home on Altamount Road. File pic
In May 2018, social media tore a slow, peaceful Sunday to shreds as it went into a frenzy, with messages whirring about ‘cracks’ in the country’s first-ever flyover. Pictures showed a portion of Kemps Corner bridge/flyover with a fissure—a misalignment which looked as if the bridge had developed a crack and is in danger of giving way. Reactions like, “so scary” and “oh my god” flew in.
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At that time urban planner/designer and engineer Shirish B Patel—the man who designed the bridge—had told mid-day while reacting to the Kemps Corner scare: “There is nothing to worry about, the contractor had built it badly at that time. We, the designers had protested, wanting it rebuilt but the BMC was keen on opening the bridge urgently. We confirmed there was nothing unsafe about it; it was just unsightly. BMC preferred to accept it. It has been exactly like this, not pretty but perfectly safe.”
Reassuring
That was just the kind of calm, reassuring voice that Patel was. In a world of hysteria and record-breaking decibel level debates, Patel had proved you do not need to shriek or shout to get your point across. Patel, the visionary urban planner passed away on Friday.
Malabar Hill resident Indrani Malkani, chairman of V Citizens Action Network (V-CAN), living the proverbial stone’s throw away from Patel who resided at Altamount Road stated, “I knew him from our Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI) days. A soft spoken person, his professional inputs invariably had a citizen centric approach. He used to interact in brainstorming sessions with clarity and in such a way so as to encourage all to contribute.”
Environmentalist Zoru Bhathena, credits Patel for being the “pivot” in the Malabar Hill reservoir controversy, where activists were opposing the BMC plan to demolish the existing reservoir and reconstruct it. That would lead to a significant loss of green cover in the area. “I recall Patel himself wrote a letter to the civic authorities along with others stating that demolition is not necessary, and minor repairs may be undertaken. He outright termed the plans to reconstruct a fraud. A three-member citizen’s committee was formed and it was Patel’s stature, his intervention, that helped this cause. He was a highly-principled planner,” said Bhathena.
Commitment
Malabar Hill’s Tushar Prabhoo too recalled Patel’s interest and intervention in the Malabar Hill Reservoir matter and stated, “He first wanted information on what exactly was happening and then took a stand on the matter, seeing wisdom in the need to repair, not demolish and reconstruct. I remember he was a daily walker, walking down every day to the Kemps Corner bridge, which he had designed. What we can learn from him is absolute commitment to a cause and craft.”
Activist Kunti Oza said, “Engineer, planner par excellence, there can be little to debate about that. More than that, he was a guiding light for so many civic projects. I will miss his sage advice, on a number of infra-related issues.” Going beyond the professional, Patel was, “just a very good human being”, recalled Sailesh Mahimtura, chairman, Mahimtura Consultants Pvt Ltd.
“As structural engineers, we have a huge responsibility. It is a very intense job that we do. I saw that intensity and passion for work in Patel. I recall returning from a meeting with this simple, down-to-earth person and he told me ‘let us have breakfast’. I thought he might suggest a fancy-shmancy Five Star hotel, but he said let’s go to Matunga, which spells authentic and unassuming. He introduced me to the Nachani Dosa! Thanks, Mr Patel. May you shine on from above on all of us.”
Voices
Indrani Malkani, chairman, V-CAN
‘A soft spoken person, his professional inputs invariably had a citizen centric approach’
Zoru Bhathena, environmentalist
‘Patel wrote to the civic authorities stating demolition of the Malabar Hill reservoir was not necessary. He outright termed the plans to reconstruct a fraud’
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