Gateway of India is a monument built in the 20th century in Mumbai to commemorate the landing of king emperor George v, who is the first British monarch to visit India in December 1911 at strand road near wellington fountain. Its structure & its place of location attracting not only in Mumbai but also from all over India.
HISTORY OF GATEWAY OF INDIA AND SIGNIFICANCE
Gammon India had undertaken construction work for the gateway of India. The foundation stone for the Gateway was laid on 31 March 1913 by then Governor of Bombay, Sir George Sydenham Clarke with the final design of George Witter, Its foundations were completed in 1920 while construction was finished in 1924. The Gateway was opened to the public on 4 December 1924 by then Viceroy, Rufus Isaac, 1st Marquess. Following Indian independence, the last British troops also left India through it.
The monument commemorates the legacy of British colonial rule, namely the first visit of a British monarch to India and its use as an entry point for prominent colonial personnel into British India. Today the Gateway is imp monument of Mumbai Since its construction, the gateway has remained among the first structures visible to visitors arriving in Bombay by the sea.
TOURISM & DEVELOPMENT
The Gateway is among the prime tourist attractions in Mumbai. The Gateway is a protected monument in Maharashtra under the aegis of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
It is a regular gathering place for locals, street vendors, and photographers. Its revenue added to states GDP, which ultimately making development in different sector.
INCIDENT
The monumental structure has not going through smooth roller coaster of its eventful life, have many untoward incident such as:
Terror attack on 25 August 2003, when there was a bomb blast in front of it. On 13 August 2005, a mentally unstable man stabbed two young girls from Manipur at the gateway premises.
On New Year’s Eve, 2007 a woman was groped by a mob at the gateway. Following the November
2008 Mumbai terror attacks, which targeted the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel opposite to the Gateway Subsequently public access to the area around was restricted. In February 2019, protests were organised at the premises in the wake of the Pulwama attack.