Pune will remember Nitin Chandrakant Desai through ‘7 Wonders of World’, miss his dream ‘Shivsrushti’

Senior Congress leader Ulhas Bagul, who was instrumental in getting the work of the garden done from Desai said he was shocked to learn about the death of the renowned art director. “Through his skill, he has contributed to the beauty of Pune city and left a mark of his own. Desai had created the replicas of Seven Wonders of the World installed in Yashwantrao Chavan Garden,” recalled Bagul and added that Desai’s creative works will always be remembered.

“The Seven Wonders Garden continues to be very popular in the city and attracts lakhs of people. However, the city will miss his proposed work of developing a Shivsrishti in the city,” Bagul said.

PMC City Engineer Prashant Waghmare said that Desai’s death will be a loss to the city. “The PMC was fortunate to have the service of the famous art director. He was to develop Shivsrishti in the city. He will be remembered through the Seven Wonders of the World project,” Waghmare remarked.

Desai, who was appointed the consultant for the Shivsrishti project, had given a presentation on the project in 2018. Waghmare said that Desai had chalked out an excellent plan and the project would have added to the beauty of the city.

Incidentally, the project for developing a Shivsrishti would have been completed had it not been for the PMC’s failure to acquire land for the project.

The project was first proposed at the old garbage depot land in Kothrud but the Pune Metro Rail sought the same land to set up its depot. After a lot of deliberation the then chief minister Devendra Fadanavis declared that the land at Kothrud garbage depot would be allotted to Pune Metro rail while the proposed Shivsrishti project will be planned at the Biodiversity Park (BDP) land in Chandni Chowk on 51 acres.

Fadanavis urged the PMC to implement the project in the new location. Around the same time, the state government allocated financial assistance to private Shiv Srishti that was being designed by Maharaja Shivchhatrapati Pratishthan, led by historian Babasaheb Purandare, in Ambegaon near Katraj.

There was no progress on the Shivsrishti project to be developed by Desai through his ND’s Art World Pvt Ltd for PMC, Bagul said.

The memorial was to focus on the life of the Maratha king and the forts built by him, nine prominent incidents on the life of Shivaji, and various moments of historical meeting of the Maratha king with Mughal emperor Afzal Khan.

“The structures would be made of black stone to give the feel of the real structures built by the Maratha king and would make the public understand the life of Shivaji Maharaj,” Desai had said.

The PMC project was supposed to have replicas of entry gate as in a fort, Shivneri fort – the birth place of Shivaji, Rajgad Rajdarbar, Torna Fort Darwaza, Pratapgad temple, Rajgad Mahadarwaza, Rajgad Sadar, Sapt Manzil Manore, Afzal Khan Tent, Pavan Khind, Sinhagad Darwaza and Shivaji Maharaj Samadhi.