British era subway found at Mumbai's JJ hospital

While inspecting the hospital premises on Wednesday, the resident medical officer spotted a mysterious passage raising curiosity among the officials at the hospital.

Mumbai: The authorities on Wednesday found over a century-old British-era subway running across the Jamshedji Jijibhoy hospital in Maharashtra's capital Mumbai. An official said that while inspecting the hospital premises on Wednesday, the resident medical officer spotted a mysterious passage raising curiosity among the officials at the hospital.

Further inspection of the passage revealed that it was a 200 meters long subway after which the archeology department and the local administration were informed about it. On further examination of the subway, officials estimated that the subway running from the labor room to the children's ward had been built by the British around 130 years ago.

It remains to be seen how Sir JJ Hospital built 177 years ago stands on the subway. The hospital buildings were built with the collaboration of Sir Jamshedji Jijibhoy and Sir Robert Grant. On March 16, 1838, Jamshedji Jijibhoy donated Rs 1 lakh for the construction of the hospital. The foundation stone of Grant Medical College was laid on March 30, 1843.

On May 15, 1845, Grant Medical College and Sir Jamshedji Jijibhoy Hospital were opened for medical students and patients. This is not the first time that such a subway has been found in Mumbai. A few years ago, a similar tunnel was discovered in the St. George area. Earlier, subways and tunnels have been found in many parts of the city.