Sena's intended birthday present to Thackeray: 8 times larger memorial

How much space does the Shiv Sena want for Bal Thackeray Exactly 11 months ago Shiv Sainiks had marked the birth anniversary of party supremo Bal Thackeray with the inauguration of a 12x6 metre memorial torch in his honour at Shivaji Park But it seems with every passing year the Senarsquos demands are also increasing Even though the CM has already announced that the Mayorrsquos bungalow will be converted into a memorial for Thackeray with the party founderrsquos birth anniversary coming up again on January 23 the Sena also wants the Shivaji Park memorial to be expanded to eight times its current size with an iron railing and a gate to set it apart from the rest of the park Never mind that this will result in the ground being dug up as well as a material change in the appearance of the park which is a heritage siteAlso read Plot opposite Matoshree ideal for Bal Thackeray memorial says Nitesh RaneAluminium sheets have been put up around the 12x6m area to mark the 27x21m enclosure PicsDatta KumbharIn fact soon after the inauguration of the akhand jyot eternal flame in January this year an unsightly temporary aluminium fence was put there to mark 27x21 metres around it even though the BMC heritage committee had only given permission for a 12x6 metre mound on which the memorial torch could be placed Since then the public has been denied access inside that chunk of the park Besides that the landscaped enclosure also has lights tiles and a watchmanrsquos cabin mdash all of which were put there without permission The Sena now hopes that this encroachment in the heritage park will be legitimised and made permanent with the Heritage committeersquos approval The Garden department sent a proposal to this effect to the Heritage committee at the beginning of this monthldquoThe plan started gaining ground after the jyot was installed It now requires the approval of the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee MHCC and the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority MCZMA A meeting was held to discuss this matter in the first week of December Soon after mdash say around 20 days ago mdash a plan was submitted to the MHCCrdquo the deputy municipal architect garden cell Meenakshi Mane confirmed to middayAlso read Shiv Sena dismisses Raj Thackerays allegations on Bal Thackerays memorialIn October 2013 the MHCC had only given approval for the memorial torch itself and explicitly mentioned there was to be no construction there The No Objection Certificate NOC from the committee reads lsquoIt was noted by the committee that the scope of work proposed was purely for landscaping and without any construction and open to skyrsquoThe letter from the Garden department to the heritage committee also includes a sketch that shows the current size of the memorial site and the proposed expansion to make it eight times as large PicDatta KumbharAfter this permission was granted the demands began for a larger enclosure A December 2014 letter from the then assistant commissioner of GNorth ward to the chief engineer DP also states lsquoThe original area of the smruti sthal is 20 ft x 40 ft Now heritage grills on four sides of the smruti sthal having size of 21 m x 27 m are required to be constructed Therefore chief engineer DP Assistant Commissioner estates superintendent of gardens should give NOCremarks for construction of heritage grill on the extended portion of 21 m x 27 mrdquoSources said for the past year a flurry of similar letters have been passed between the various authorities mdash the deputy municipal architectrsquos department MHCC the Development Planning DP department ward office and others in this regard and the matter will now come up in the next heritage committee meeting again But when midday contacted assistant commissioner GNorth ward Ramakant Biradar DP chief V P Chithore and MHCC chief Ramnath Jha in the matter they all said they knew nothing about itNo diggingSena leader and BMCrsquos Standing Committee chairman Yashodhar Phanse told this paper ldquoWe hope that the iron grille will come up at the location before Balasaheb Thackerayrsquos birth anniversary on January 23 The objective is to make sure the jyot is visible from all four sides to the publicrdquoWhen this reporter pointed out that this would involve digging up the park premises he said ldquoThere will be no digging or construction on the locationrdquoAlso read Congress opposes Bal Thackerays memorial at Mumbai Mayors bungalowHowever deputy municipal commissioner zone II Anand Vagralkar said ldquoThe iron grille will have to be dug into the ground But everything will be done with due permissions The proposal is before the heritage committee right nowrdquoA senior official from the MHCC said ldquoThe proposal for the iron grille has been in existence since the jyot was put up However it did not get approval due to various permissions required It is now being considered by the Heritage committeerdquo