‘Jal Bhushan’ the office and residence of the Governor of Maharashtra inaugurated

by Suman Gupta

Mumbai | June 14, 2022: Prime Minister Narendra Modi also inaugurated the newly reconstructed ‘Jal Bhushan’, the residence and office of the Governor of Maharashtra.

‘Jal Bhushan’ has a history of at least 200 years.  Mountstuart Elphinstone, the Governor of Mumbai, built a small bungalow called ‘Pretty Cottage’ on Malabar Hill between 1820 and 1825.  The structure ‘Jalbhushan’ stands on this place.

Since the relocation of the Government House at Malabar Hill in 1885, it has housed the residence of the British Governor of the erstwhile Bombay State,  the Governor of Bombay after independence and the Governor of Maharashtra after the formation of the State in 1960.

It was decided to construct a new building at this place as the old structure was found unsafe for dwelling.  On 18th August 2019, President Ramnath Kovind also laid the foundation stone of the new ‘Jalbhushan’ building.

The new ‘Jalbhushan’ architecture preserves the salient heritage features of the old architecture.