A proposal by the elected representatives in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to light up the statue of Maratha warrior king Shivaji in Kothrud with a gas torch may not have sounded like a bright idea for the civic administration, which seemed to be in a nod to suggest an electric torch to cut costs. However, cost and gas availability issues may be resolved and the gas torch may shine on the statue. The proposal approved in the standing committee would be taken up in the general body on priority, so that work can begin as soon as possible. Leaders of all political parties have submitted the proposal by diverting funds allocated for work that did not start in the present fiscal year. The elected representatives put forth the same proposal twice seeking different amount of funds for the work. In the first proposal, Prithviraj Sutar of Shiv Sena, Ravindra Dhangekar of MNS, Yogesh Mullick of BJP, Kamal Vyavhare of Congress and Shankar Kemse of NCP sought Rs 30 lakh for the work to install a gas torch and to beautify the area around the statue. They proposed to divert some funds from Rs 80 lakh meant for development work in the new villages proposed to be brought under the PMC area. A proposal tabled by Nanda Lonkar of NCP and Mukari Algude of Congress sought Rs 50 lakh for installing the gas torch near the statue. “We just got the proposal approved in the standing committee and it will be taken up in the general body meeting,” said Sutar, adding that the elected representatives have diverted the funds from projects that are unlikely to be started by the end of the current financial year. The proposal, after the general body nod, would be sent to the civic administration for implementation and will take time as a tender will be floated, he said. When asked about gas availability for the torch, Sutar said, "The elected representatives would urge the civic administration to seek gas from the MNGL that had laid pipelines across the city and the civic body would bear the cost of the gas.” PMC executive engineer Sandeep Khandve said that the civic administration is yet to receive the proposal. “I cannot comment as the proposal has not reached us. We have never taken up such a work in the past so don’t know which department would execute it. Thus, the civic administration would discuss it before implementation,” he added. The PMC had installed an electric torch near the statue of Annabhau Sathe near Sarasbaug, Khandve added, “We have the experience of installing an electric torch but not a gas torch.” Another civic officer said there will not be any problem installing the torch but the concern would be the expenditure on gas. “It is necessary to think about expenditure on gas for the torch before work is taken up. The option of operating the torch on electricity should be considered to make it feasible,” he said.
