The City of Bombay Improvement Trust (BIT) was created on 9 December 1898, in response to the Bombay plague epidemic of 1896.^[1] The plague's threat to Bombay's economy caused the Bombay Chamber of Commerce to approach Governor Lord Sandhurst to ensure “the destruction of insanitary [sic] property and the thorough cleansing of the city and suburbs" after the 1897 International Sanitary Conference in Venice threatened to quarantine ships from Bombay.^[2][3][4]

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The BIT was modeled on contemporary English and Scottish town-planning institutions and "possessed the authority not only to build housing, but also to demolish slums and widen roads, and improve sanitation, particularly in the “problematic” working-class neighborhoods."^[3]

British colonial officials constructed the BIT's board to "guarantee the basic framework of property rights."^[3] The board was dominated by members favourable to commercial and industrial interests; four members represented the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC), and the Bombay Millowners’ Association, the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Port Trust.^[3]

The CIT widened roads in the central, crowded, parts of the town. A new east-west road, the Princess Street, was constructed to channel the sea air into the centre of the crowded residential areas. The north-south Sydenham Road (now Mohammedali Road) was also constructed with this end in view.

The Dadar-Matunga-Wadala-Sion suburban development was started in 1899 with the express purpose of relieving congestion to the south. Well-laid out plots, with mixed land-use patterns marked these sections. Completed in 1900, access to these parts were through the newly completed Mohammedali Road.

• Bombay plague epidemic