Homi Mody Street is looking smarter and brighter than before both by daylight and lamplight. It's a great deal nicer to walk here these days, and to stand by and look around at its handsome ensemble of Edwardian buildings some of which, such as the 1920s' Bombay House, are designed by none other than George Wittet, the man who gave us the Prince of Wales Museum and the Gateway of India.

And this is because the House of Tatas and the Central Bank of India, the two big institutions here, have taken the trouble to clean up the street at least the section on which they reside. They've had the pavements re-done and elegant new street furniture installed, and hope to eventually extend the upgradation programme to cover the rest of the neighbourhood.

The Homi Mody Street clean-up is the latest in a string of initiatives launched recently in the Fort district by local heritage groups such as the Kala Ghoda Association, D.N. Road Association and the Horniman Circle Association. The Tatas are no strangers to such initiatives, having contributed substantially to the corpus for the Kala Ghoda rejuvenation project.

They were the first corporate in the art district to restore the heritage building that they own there the 1898 neo-classical Army and Navy Building. That was completed in time for the golden jubilee of Indian Independence. Speaking about the factors that prompted the Homi Mody Street tidy-up, K.N. Suntook, chairman of Associated Building Co (a Tata concern that owns Bombay House) says:

"The street had become a mess, the pavements were potholed and prone to waterlogging, forcing pedestrians to walk on the road. The streetlighting was dim, as a result of which people were misusing the place after dark. So, we decided it was time we intervened to clean up our environs." He wrote to the Central Bank asking whether they would participate in the clean-up "and they promptly replied in the affirmative.

And, here we are." The Tatas and Central Bank pooled in Rs 27 lakhs for the project and called in conservation architect Vikas Dilawari, who had earlier successfully worked on the restoration of the BMC Hall and the Rajabai Tower, to design and execute it. And as always, Dilawari has done a sound job. The new pavement is neat and sturdy with its red stilan tiles, which can be replaced easily when the MTNL or BMC dig the place up.

All rainwater pipes from terraces are concealed underneath the pavement to prevent waterlogging as well as to prevent the theft of the lower half of the cast iron pipes. The old-fashioned bollards and chains used to define the pavement's edge are elegant and practical, as are the tall new street lamps.

"We chose a modern design for the lamps that would enhance the area by being sympathetic to the existing heritage structures but avoid imitating their historic character," says Mr Dilawari. The spruce-up has enhanced the appearance of the heritage buildings here. The uniform pavement and street furniture give a cohesive look at street level to these handsome early 20th-century stone structures, which are strikingly similar in their architectural language and detailing.

Apart from Bombay House, the other buildings in this section are the Mulla and Mulla, Ewart House and Central Bank buildings almost all of which are attributed to George Wittet. "Wittet joined the board of directors of Tata Engineering Co Ltd in 1919. He designed Bombay House in the early 1920s as well as a number of other buildings in its vicinity.

In fact, he designed as many as 44 buildings for the Tatas (in and around Bombay) and 95 buildings for the Government of Bombay. Considering the identical design and detailing of the Central Bank of India, Mulla and Mulla and Bombay House structures, it would be reasonable to conclude that the former were also designed by Wittet, and around the same time," says Mr Dilawari.

The Tatas hope to be able to enlist the cooperation of their neighbours to take the street operation forward. "It would be nice to see the Flora Fountain area cleared of its visual pollution; indeed, to work towards bringing down the hoardings that mar the facades of the buildings surrounding the monument," says Mr Suntook. "We intend to talk to, among others, Akbarallys and Hong Kong Bank in this regard soon," he adds.

They ought to be receptive to the idea especially considering that Akbarallys maintains Flora Fountain and Hong Kong Bank (HSBC) has funded a number of civic and heritage initiatives in the Kala Ghoda and Horniman Circle areas. Here's to looking at Flora Fountain without her ugly fuzz of ads.