Gilbert Hill

Gilbert Hill is a 61 m monolith column of black basalt rock at Andheri, Mumbai. The rock has a sheer vertical face and was formed when molten lava was squeezed out of the Earth's clefts during the Mesozoic Era 66 million years ago. According to experts, this rare geological phenomenon was the remnant of a ridge and had clusters of vertical columns in nearby Jogeshwari. Gilbert Hill was declared a National Park in 1952 by the Central Government under the Forest Act. In 2007, after years of lobbying by geologists, the hill was declared a Grade II heritage structure by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), and all quarrying and other activities around the monument were prohibited.