Days before his 1st death anniversary,Thackeray memorial gets green nod

The MCZMA ‘s nod was necessary for the memorial work as its site at Shivaji Park falls in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ).

The MCZMA granted permission after the civic body committed that the memorial was planned on a no-construction theme. “It will be a part of a garden. The 12×6 m memorial will be set up with the use of lawn,flowering shrubs. A 3-m high topiary tree will be placed at the centre. The entire memorial will be constructed using red soil,pebbles and natural stones,” a senior official said.

According to R A Rajeev,principal secretary at the environment department,the MCZMA has said that no construction beyond the approved design would be allowed. He said the BMC would have to maintain the site on its own and no third party interests could be created.

The BMC has identified the memorial site as a garden,which would now be named after Thackeray.

Following the MCZMA nod,the BMC is expected to immediately start work on installation of bollards.

According to BMC’s standing committee chairman and Shiv Sena leader Rahul Shewale,the work on the memorial is expected to be completed by Friday. “The work is going on. We needed MCZMA nod for putting up the railings. Earlier,we had planned a granite Chauthara but this was modified to just landscaped garden.”

Thousands of Shiv Sainiks are expected to pay homage at the site on November 17.

Earlier,the landscaping proposal of the garden was modified after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) raised objections citing damage to their rain harvesting plant situated in the same premise.

Following a suggestion by MNS leader Raj Thackeray,a rain water harvesting plant was set up in Dadar’s Shivaji Park this year.

MNS corporator in BMC,Sandip Deshpande,said,“The landscaping of the memorial was being done in a way that the trenches dug up for the project were being covered by tiles. This would have affected our rain water harvesting plant. Following my request,however,the Mayor agreed to put the tiles in a way that the water could flow easily into the ground,” he said.