Shirish B Patel, one of Mumbai’s most prominent urban planners and civil engineers, died on Friday. He was 92 years old.
Patel was born in 1932. After studying engineering at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, he worked on two major dams – the Kariba dam on the Zambezi river with a French company and the Koyna dam in Maharashtra.
In 1960, he started a private civil engineering firm in Mumbai. In 1965, Patel, along with architects and urban planners Charles Correa and Pravina Mehta, published an article that proposed the idea of creating a new city across the harbour from Bombay.
The city of New Bombay, now known as Navi Mumbai, was constructed in the early 1970s.
He was subsequently employed by the Maharashtra government to work on the project in the City and Industrial Development Corporation, where he served as the technical adviser. He later took on the role of director of planning and works.
Patel also worked on iconic landmarks in the city, including the Kemps Corner Flyover, which was the first of its kind in India, and the large-panel, residential buildings at Petit Hall.
He wrote extensively on a range of issues, including slum evictions, recycling industrial land and urban flooding. Patel was also a regular contributor to Scroll.
In 2023, Patel, along with architects and urban planners Oormi Kapadia and Jasmine Saluja, authored a two-volume book titled 6 Metros, a comparative study of urban planning and implementation in London, New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Delhi and London.
Also read: In a new book, urban planners highlight why having ‘common’ land will benefit big metropolises
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!