Planning the industrial township at vikhroli, Pirojsha planted trees before laying the foundations of the factory buildings. In doing so he was being true to the sprit of his Aryan forefathers, who loved and venerated nature and never destroyed what they believed to be the creations of god. Pollution of the elements of nature was considered by them to be a grievous sin, and hence amazingly, they practiced the science of ecology and conversation thousands of years before modern science invented these words.

The first thing the Aryans did on settling in Iran was, according to P.H. Havewala ( The Saga of the Aryan Race ), to plant trees and flowers : 'Wherever the Aryans settled in the land, they made a paradise around them by planting beautiful trees and flowers. Iran 20,000 years ago was transformed into a garden land, each land, each family cultivating its own huge garden with roses, tulips, marigolds, sunflowers and pretty little fountains sprinkling water everywhere. The concept of a garden originated from the noble Aryan race; the very word garden in English would derive thousands of years later from the Avestan word Garo-Deman or Garo-Nmaane; the paradise of Ahura Mazda.'

How Naval, acting on Pirojsha's behalf, came to acquire the land at Vikhroli is quite a story recorded in the dusty files of the Bombay High Court. It was on 7 July 1835 that Nathaniel Hornby granted by way of perpetual lease, the entire villages of Vikhroli ( including the eastern boundary of Vikhroli, which is a creek ) and Kanjur to one Framji Cawasjee Banajee. Nearly ninety- five years later, on 28 October 1929, one Moolji Haridas and others assigned, conveyed and released two-fourths share in the village of Vikhroli, freed and discharged of all mortgages and charges and trusts, in favour of Amratlal Amarchand. Approximately fourteen years later, on18 January 1943, the Commissioner for Accountants in the High Court of  Bombay ( in Suit No. 918 of 1935), put up for sale the village of Vikhroli, at which sale Naoroji Pirojsha Godrej was declared the Highest bidder and Purchased the rights, title and interests of Amratlal Amarchand in the Vikhroli village.

Five years later, on 7 January 1948, Naval transferred and assigned to Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Pvt. all his rights, title and interests in the village of Vikhroli together with the pieces of land purchased by him earlier on 15 April 1943. This was recorded by a letter received from the Collector of Thane dated 7 January 1948, and duly recorded in the High court of Bombay on 30 July 1948.

What had been a dream needed now to be blueprinted. But the blueprint, while establishing the dream's contours, gave but a dim idea on paper of the immensity and complexity of the effort that would be required, the ingenuity and skill, sweat and tears that would have to go into transforming this huge wasteland into an industrial garden township. Levelling land, building roads, airy plants, residential quarters and schools, vast lawns and gardens - and the many problems attendant to running and maintaining a township. Levelling land, building roads, airy plants, residential quarters and schools, vast lawns and gardens - and the many problems attendant to running and maintaining a township of this size, laying of pipes, drains and cables, provision of water and power,fencing the area, dealing with industrial effluents and sewerage, recycling waste....

Proof of the implicit faith Pirojsha had in Naval is shown by the fact that in spite of the heavy debts incurred by him and the very high stakes involved in the project, instead of taking the easy way by getting an established contractor to do the planning and building, he entrusted the entire work to Naval. Pirojsha was a good judge of character. Wise and selective about how best each of his sons would render service to the karkhana, he weighed their merits. Sohrab, his eldest son, once reconciled to become an industrialist in spite of himself, was given a responsibility he was most proficient to fulfil, to attend to publicity and Public Relations, establishing valued contact at home and abroad and abroad. Burjor, the younger son, with his passion for research, was asked to shoulder the entire responsibility of  running the soap business. Daughter Dosa wasn't forgotten. She was encouraged to volunteer as an ambulance driver with the St. John Ambulance Brigade during the war years. She played quite a role bringing the injured to safety, at some risk to herself, during the Bombay dock explosion of 1944.

Naval's work initially was confined to planning the township along with Pirojsha. Later, particularly after Pirojsha's death in 1972, he became involved in the total execution of the project. He had to decide on the priorities of construction, which was a complex, expensive and location-specific activity. The Godrej Construction Department was in itself quite unique with multifaceted activities ranging from new construction projects to construction maintenance, industrial effluents, sewage and water treatment and gardening activities. Emphasis was laid on the adoption of a quality system for design and execution of industrial and residential construction projects, property investment, industrial and domestic works management, landscaping and gardening of the township. The end was to make the township a unique one, maintaining a balance between man and nature: a self-sufficient township with its own water supply, sewerage and effluent treatment systems.Well developed too, with infrastructure like roads, towns, landscape gardens, forestry and, of course, the manufacturing plants with machines thundering away to their industrial destiny.

Naval realized the importance of selecting tried and trusted men for this seemingly impossible undertaking. H.N. Baria, Retired Chief Engineer of the Bombay Port Trust, was appointed Chief Engineer in charge of  Projects and Developments on 2nd April 1948. This was just in time for construction to begin for, on an application made by Godrej & Boyce on 2 March 1948, permission to start construction of plant-I was given on 16 April 1948.

Right from its inception, Naval laid down for the Construction Department an 'Environmental Policy,' by which they were committed to a gradual development and continuous improvement in their environmental performance pertaining to activities which then and now include civil construction, property project, wetland waste management and landscaping. In the attention they gave to environmental concerns, Godrej were well in advance of  most industries. It is only in the last decade that the construction industry worldwide, in strengthening its commitment to environmental issues, has formed study groups with a view to investigating how industry should modify its behaviour in order to reduce its load on the environment. These groups laid down certain guidelines through a construction industry Environment Plan. Using this as a base, industry wanted to strengthen awareness of the concept of Environmental Construction and to involve all industries in making a concerted effort.

In Godrej, on the other hand, the Construction Department made it a point from the very beginning to adopt practices which prevent pollution, and that is why Vikhroli, unlike the city which it adjoins, remains clean and green. The Construction Department had to conserve water and other resources, use raw material having less adverse environmental impacts, conserve and enhance green cover, and continue to create environmental awareness among their employees, sub-contractors, vendors and the community around, in pursuance of the environmental Policy laid down by the management : ' We at Godrej are committed to profitable growth in our business through sustainable development and continual improvement in our environmental performance.'

The further steps Godrej took towards control of  pollution make their synonymous with clean and sound environmental practices. The late Nozer A. Lentin, who has a member Secretary ( Retd.) to Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, was appointed in 1980 to conduct a survey of legal and technical problems likely to be faced regarding treatment and disposal of effluents. In 1982, a Manager ( Environment and Pollution Control ) was appointed to attend to the day-to-day work related to environment and pollution control. Data of effluents from the industrial plants was analysed and a feasibility report was prepared. Later, in 1983, an Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) was established with M/s Associated Industrial Consultants. An ETP with a capacity of 1,200 cubic metres was commissioned in 1986. In 1987, electroplating effluents were segregated and treated separately in a plant having the capacity of 200 cubic metres per day.

The first Tertiary Sewage Treatment and Recycling Plant was commissioned 1989 and second as recently as in 1996. At present, 100 cubic metres per day as sewage waste are being treated for re-use in industrial plants and gardens.

In 1995 M/s. AIC Watson were appointed to carry out a detailed study of all aspects of solid waste management in the Godrej industrial premises. Suggestions in a comprehensive report submitted in January 1997 are in the process of being implemented. Paint waste, which has been a major source of hazardous wastes, was sent for test incineration to M/s. Bayers Limited. A procedure has been put in place to incinerate the paint sludge and to dispose of the ash generated. A secured landfill for hazardous wastes has been constructed.

Finally, in 1995 the management decided to appraise all the Divisional Heads and Managers about the Environmental Management System and Environment Audit. Mr K.P. Nyati, Head of the Environment Management Division, Confederation of Indian Industry, was invented to give a presentation to them. Further follow-up was done to initiate action on the Environment Management System and adoption of ISO-14001 standards throughout the Company.

Naval emphasized upon quality for the department, by which each of the structures would provide satisfactory services for about 100 years. He made it clearly known that an initial fault in the concept of design or workmanship would involve heavy costs at a later date, which had to be avoided. In this way, by having in-house facilities and capabilities, the Construction Department not only achieved economy, but also quality and reliably, unlike the construction industry in our country, which is becoming a matter of grave concern. Naval had envisaged from the beginning that the Construction Department would not only undertake new projects for construction at Vikhroli, but would also be responsible for its maintenance.

Baria's appointment in 1948 was followed by H.N. Engineer's in 1949. The foundation work of Plant-I was then in progress and work on the construction of plant-II had also started. Engineer became the departmental head in 1996 and continued in that capacity till 1971. He was ably assisted by Edul Postwalla. Engineer was followed by Bomi Sethna, who with his twenty years' experience, having joined Godrej in 1951, took over as departmental head in 1971 and continued till 1986. It was then Engineer's son Maneck's turn to take over, and deservedly too, for he had been in  the service of the Company for twenty-two years since 1964 and continues to head the Department in the capacity of Vice-President to this day.

Progress in construction was slow, but steady. Naval's habit of adopting a system for everything he did and expecting his workers to follow, was very much in evidence in the construction of manufacturing plants, housing and the Udayachal schools. After the construction of plant-I and II, construction of other plants was taken up every second year. By the year 1990, when Naval passed away, eighteen factory sheds had been constructed and the last, the nineteenth, was completed in 1992.
As regards housing for workers, Naval would sit with the architects and insist on cross-ventilation. The experience thus gained would prove to be most useful when designing Godrej Baug years later. The first housing project was taken in hand in 1951. This project known as Betthi Chawl initiated a brisk programme of housing for workers,There was a break in the speed of construction between 1975 and 1985, when the Urban Land ( Ceiling & Regulation ) Act 1976 came into force. Otherwise, the going was smooth throughout. As of today, about 3,600 tenements stand erected in different sizes of one/two/three/ four-room flats with kitchen. along with a few bungalows for top management executives on the hillside. There are three Godrej housing colonies in Vikhroli, located at the Creekside, Hillside and Station Road, where the employees live comfortably in spacious rooms - quite unheard of in Mumbai.

Naval had clearly chalked out his construction plans.The land in Vikhroli, measuring over 3,000 acres - of which approximately 1,800 were in the green non-development zone - were demarcated as under':

Factory ( Plants) : Industrial area approximately 180 acres. Housing in the three colonies at Vikhroli : Area approximately 450 acres.

The Udayachal Schools.

No development zone : fifty-eight acres.
Lands gifted to Soonabai Pirojsha Godrej Foundation, Gamadia Trust and Ratan Tata Trust : 2,400 acres.
Land leased to Godrej Soaps for industrial purposes : 84 acres.

Land leased to Godrej Soaps for residential purposes :four acres.

Offices at Branches and Showrooms in Mumbai and other parts of India.

By handling the building of the township themselves, Pirojsha and Naval showed extraordinary foresight. As the area is within Greater Mumbai, it comes under the purview of the development plan, which is revised every twenty years. This revision causes constant headaches, which would have been difficult, almost impossible to remedy, but for the fact that Godrej already had the in-house infrastructure for making representations, sending reminders and subsequently following up. Pirojsha's and Naval's foresight brought about rich rewards to their way of planning and thinking, which emphasizes comfortable living and sound education for thousands of workers.

Besides the routine problems the Construction Department faces from day to day, like material procurement, Labour problems, contractual disputes, delivery delays, etc., the activity of construction itself is of an exceedingly complex nature with costs mounting almost everyday. A recurring problem in construction over such a vast area is bringing men and machinery to a particular site and, after completing work, shifting them to another site. Mobility of labour and adherence to rigid quality standards (TQM) complicate the task of quality management. The task becomes even more complex when contractual arrangements regarding nominations of persons, allocation of duties and responsibilities lead to change in results. The Construction Department has not only custom-oriented and cost-competitive, but has to ensure that any kind of finished structure commands a premium with customers accepting it only on the basis of quality.

Maintenance too is a constant problem. This is handled by a staff of 115 workers, twenty-two staff members and thirty-nine managers, along with 135 contractors and more than 2,000 contract labours. Then there are two horticulturists and forty-one permanent workmen who take care of the Garden Department. Their job is to ensure proper landscaping and maintenance within the township and four traffic islands maintained by Godrej at Godrej Chowk, Ghatkoper, Vikhroli and at the Overseas Communication Services crossing near the Bombay Gymkhana. The total garden area build up and maintained over the years is around 200 acres and the annual cost of gardening alone is Rs 45 lakhs, least grudged of all.

Housekeeping inside the industrial complex is entrusted to three contractors who have a workforce of over 300, while six other contractors deploying another hundred labourers attend to the regular housekeeping and maintenance in the industrial plants and the housing colony.This work is done during the first and second shifts and on holidays. The expenses work out to about Rs 10 lakhs per month. To date the projects completed are :
Nineteen Factory Plants covering an area of 2,86,300 sq. metres; Offices, Canteen, Dispensary and Ancillary Structures covering an area of 79,100 sq. metres;

Three Udayachal Schools covering an area of 22,700 sq. metres; and three residential colonies housing 3,600 tenements, with their number increased from day to day.

In recognition of efforts put in by the Construction Department, it was awarded the ISO-9001 Certificate on 19 April 1997. Godrej is the first organization in India to receive an ISO-9001 Certificate for in-house construction.Theirs is a unique case of implementing quality systems based on models ISO-9004-6 and ISO-9004-2 in a single organization. Until now, construction companies involved in real estate or in project have obtained this Certificate only for the project management activities. The point to note is that the entire implementation of the quality systems based on two models was completed by the Construction Department in the record time of fifteen months.

It wasn't easy going. There were numerous obstacles to be surmounted along the way. The earliest of these was the provision of water for the township. In 1949 water was supplied from he Tansa duct. In 1965 this was discontinued, and was transferred to a twelve-inch diameter water main along LBS Marg. Godrej had to have their own system of internal grid of water supply catered to by a reservoir near plant-III feeding the Plants and residential colony. The water consumption is about 55 lakh liters per day, for which Godrej has a parallel system of well water collected in the reservoir, as well as treated sewage water.

There were bureaucratic obstacles too. Whilst work was going on in right earnest, on 14 January 1952 the Salsette Estates ( Land Revenue Exemption Abolition Act 1951) Bombay Act XVII, was passed. Godrej were left with no alternative but to file a suit on 17 April 1953 ( Suit No. 412 of 1953) against the State of Bombay in the Bombay High Court for a declaration that they were the owners of the village of Vikhroli and that the said Act had no application to them and/ or to the said village and the State of Bombay was not entitled to apply the provisions of the said Act to the villages of Vikhroli.

Earlier, in March 1952, Godrej & Boyce had advised the Collector, Bombay Suburban District, that all lands in the village of Vikhroli had been appropriated for non-agriculture purposes, and specified the uses to which the land had been put. There was considerable exchange of correspondence till, ten years later, on 11 January 1962, the Commissioner, Mumbai Division, informed all concerned that under Section 4(b) of the Salsette Act the land which was already sold and had an area of 3,654 acres comprised in Survey No. 12 Vikhroli was not the property of the State.

Then again the desire of the Soonabai Pirojsha Godrej Foundation to construct houses on 300 acres of land was thwarted because of a court case ( Suit No. 679 of 1973 ) between the Maharashtra State Government and Godrej & Boyce. The sufferers were thousands deprived of a roof over their heads for the past twenty-four years !

At Pirojshanagar, Godrej have preserved a large expanse of swamp, one of the very few such areas in the city under original mangrove forest. It is almost unbelievable that, like the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivli, such a mangrove still exits in the excessively congested and polluted metropolis that Mumbai is, serving in a manner of speaking as the city's lungs.

The mangrove has been preserved by the Soonabai Pirojsha Godrej trust, which is the owner of this tract covering 1,800 acres, east of Vikhroli. Never was nature worship, common to all the world's religions, more needed to be observed than today when the earth, the oceans, the air we breathe, the water we drink and other elements are increasingly being desecrated by human, industrial and atmospheric pollution. Such worship would create the awareness in all of us as, to loss of food, breeding grounds and shelter for numerous forms of life.

Since awareness about mangroves is extremely poor among city residents, creating such awareness is the need of the hour. Special programmes like Mangrove Awareness Programmes (MAP) are being designed, which will include nature trails. Slide shows. talks, exhibitions, etc., targeted for different groups. Brochures have been designed to convey information about mangroves and about the activities of the Vikhroli Centre. These brochures and/ or letters are sent to different schools/ colleges/NGOs/organisations which are interested in research on mangroves. Two watchtowers are being maintained for safety of the area and for field observation. Further, a mangrove museum is being built to provide knowledge about mangroves. Slide shows are a powerful aid for this education. The idea is for the project to establish itself as a pioneer body working for the project to establish itself as a pioneer body working for the restoration of mangroves along with related activities.

As is the Godrej practice, an Environmental Cell was established in 1985 for the mangrove project. Three eminent scientists and Trustees of the Soonabai Pirojsha Godrej Foundation were appointed - the late Dr Salim Ali, the late Dr A.K. Ganguli and Dr H.N.Sethna. Noted dignitaries have admired this project. Mauri Rautkari, Secretary-General, WWF-Finland had this to say: "vikhroli mangroves in Mumbai can offer such original habitat and ecosystem within the city itself, which hardly any other city in the world can boast of.'

Who says dreams cannot be realized? This industrial garden township was. It has been referred to variously as a tourist attraction, the pride of Maharashtra and an Eden of Contentment. On 12 December 1972 at the mammoth condolence meeting for his late father, the Company's Chairman, Sohrab Godrej, announced that this township would henceforth be known as Pirojshanagar. Many visitors who came to Pirojshanagar from India and abroad viewed it with pride and joy and a sense of wonderment. The Visitors Book at Pirojshanagar is aglow with the compliments showered on it. A perusal of their comments makes for rewarding reading. A French journalist admits to finding very few enterprises so favourably disposed in his own country. A Planning Advisor to the United Nations declares that if more industrialists were as progressive and forwardlooking, it would be much to the country's good. A Malaysian MP refers to it as one of the finest factories he has seen, especially in regard to the welfare, education and housing of the workers. a roving ambassador for the Ghana Government refers to the facilities provided for workers to be the prime objective of management, a rare thing elsewhere. An Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Finance calls it a most impressive example of enlightened capitalism. And a Secretary from one of the city's best known hospitals calls it an Industrial Wonderland ...

All this - and a model school too, appropriately named Udayachal, breaking a new dawn for the workers' children, tomorrow's citizens.