Backbay Reclamation

With the onset of the American Civil war there was a cotton famine at Manchester and Lancashire and the cotton industry was about to die when it was thought that the cotton supply from America could be replaced by supplies from the Indian coast. For this what was required was an expedite railway communication between Bombay and the hinterland where cotton was being grown. Towards this end, the B.B and C. I Railway Company was working by building a railway communication between Bombay and Surat. It was thought that if there was the cotton laden wagons could directly reach upto Colaba then they could be directly loaded onto the ships at the harbour.