Chawls provided affordable housing solutions for the working-class population. Typically, a chawl is a multi-storeyed structure and has individual living units arranged around a central courtyard. The units open on a running balcony which is used to socialize with neighbours. The residential unit may include a bedroom, sitting room, and kitchen, though washroom facilities are usually common.
As a gesture of goodwill and public service, the descendants of Nawab Ayaz supported the construction of a sizable tank on the site of which a pyau (drinking waterspout) was placed in 1916. Horses and bullocks that pulled carts carrying cargo to the warehouses and dockyards had their own section of the tank. Subsequently, the tank was filled and transformed into a playground. It also has a subterranean water tank.
Though Mazagon was an island with sea on all sides, it was well-known for freshwater resources. Before the days of municipally supplied tap water, there were a lot of wells and tanks that supplied drinking water. While some of these wells were privately dug within homes, others were open to the public. This covered well, for instance, is a private well located inside a Parsi mansion.
A tailor operates a sewing machine on the ground floor of Khorshed Mansion. This building, located on Nawab Tank Bridge Road, is extremely narrow, and the shop stands on its wedged corner. The floor space of the shop is barely a metre wide, enough to run a tailoring business.