Taj, Oberoi work quietly to restore old grandeur by year-end

Mumbai, May 24 (PTI) The iconic Taj Palace and The
Oberoi wear a solemn look as they stand facing the Arabian Sea
on India's western coast but restoration works are fast
progressing inside the luxury hotels, extensively damaged in
the 26/11 terror strikes in the country's financial capital,
to throw them open to public again by this yearend.

Located hardly two kilometres from each other, the Taj
Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel and The Oberoi and Trident
hotels, were badly damaged in the terror strike nearly six
months ago that left 166 dead and 234 injured.

"The restoration will take another six months to
complete. The planning itself takes two to three months. So,
it is expected that by December 2009, The Oberoi would be
fully refurbished to be thrown open to our guests," Oberoi
Group Vice-Chairman S S Mukherjee told PTI.

Mukherjee said there are multiple agencies at work
doing up the air-conditioning system, the elevators, electric
network, the water pipelines and the flooring.

"It's difficult to say how many rooms are complete.
About 30-50 per cent work are over," he said.

Tata-owned Taj opened the Sea Lounge in its 103-year
old heritage wing on May 1. "We just have to get the suites
open and make functional the Golden Dragon (restaurant) and
the Harbour Bar," the Taj spokesperson said.

Both hotels opened their tower wings to guests on
December 21 last year, three weeks after the terror attacks.

R K Krishna Kumar, Vice Chairman of Indian Hotels
Company (IHCL), which runs Taj, had then said that the north
block of the heritage wing is expected to be ready by February
2009 while the south block will be ready by end of next year.

Wasabi and Harbour Bar in the old wing of Taj were
badly gutted, he had said.

"Roof Top Rendezvous, which is a banquet hall in the
Tower Wing, was converted into Wasabi. We now have to get
Wasabi back to its original location," the Taj spokesperson
said. Taj has already thrown open restaurants like Souk,
Shamiana, Zodiac Grill, Starboard and Masala Kraft.

Neither of the hotels have laid off any staff.

"We do have a little more extra hands at Trident, but
most have been put into retraining in small batches. Many are
engaged in restoration at the Oberoi, while some are on their
annual leaves," Mukherjee said.

Security at the 550-room Trident and 278-room Taj
Tower has also been beefed up in addition to the armed guards
deployed by the government.

Both hotels have received the first installment of the
insurance amount from their respective insurance companies for
restoration. While Trident is insured for Rs 780 crore, the
Oberoi is covered for Rs 650 crore. The Taj has an insurance
cover of Rs 1,000 crore. PTI KV
PMR
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