After children, parents and activists came out in support against the playground at Garware Balbhavan being used for a memorial of late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, some well-known persons in the city have come forward to demand that the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) renew the land agreement on a permanent basis.

Acclaimed astrophysicists Dr Jayant Naralikar and Dr Arvind Gupta and ecologist Dr Madhav Gadgil are all for the administrators of Garware Balbhavan to renew the contract with the PMC for the next 30 years at least.