Bombay was a multi-functional presidency city of the British in India.
It expanded rapidly from late 19th century from 644, 405 in 1872 and the population grew to 15,00,000 in 1941.
Bombay became the capital city of Bombay Presidency in 1819 and became a major administrative centre. All these factors, in addition to the growing commercial needs, made reclamation of Bombay necessary.
(i) There were many reclamation projects in 1864, the Back Bay Reclamation Company won the right to reclaim western foreshore from the tip of Malabar Hill to the end of Colaba.
(ii) A successful reclamation project was undertaken by the Bombay Port Trust which built a dry dock and used the excavated earth to create Ballard estate. Subsequently, the famous Marine Drive was developed.
