Remembering Dada’s visit to civic HQ as BMC heritage walk turns five

Pic Courtesy/Khaki Tours

Deputy CM Ajit Pawar at the BMC headquarters with the then CM Uddhav Thackeray and former Cabinet Minister Aaditya Thackeray, in January 2021. When Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar visited the BMC headquarters on January 28, 2021, to inaugurate the Heritage Walk, it marked the first time the 128-year-old civic building was opened to tourists.

Pawar, a prominent and widely respected leader from the Maratha community, was told about the ‘Maratha Ditch' - a deep trench built by the East India Company to protect British-controlled structures from possible Maratha attacks during India's freedom struggle.

IN PHOTOS: `Ajit Dada Amar Rahe’ chants echo as Maharashtra bids farewell to Deputy CM Ajit Pawar

1 day agoPHOTO GALLERY

The ditch existed in the Fort area before 1860. "We were standing on the deck above the entrance of BMC when I pointed to Mr Pawar the location of the erstwhile Fort of Bombay that was surrounded by the ditch," said Bharat Gothoskar, founder of Khaki Tours, which conducts the heritage walks every weekend.

Pawar later visited the BMC as part of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi, accompanying then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who officially inaugurated the Heritage Walk. "It is sad that he passed away on the fifth anniversary of the Heritage Walk," Gothoskar said.