Sena plans monuments to attract tourists

Unveiling plans to make Mumbai a tourist attraction, Sena leaders said the projects will be developed without putting much money8212;by way of MP funds and Build, Operate and Transfer BOT basis. 8220;Mumbai is visited by so many tourists, but they hardly have anything to see here. By developing these monuments, we hope people will get to know more about the city and enjoy as well,8221; said Sena leader and standing committee chairman Ravindra Waikar, who recommended Mumbai Eye, modelled on the famous London Eye and a wax museum after his trip to London early this year.

Representative of Great Wheel Corporation and Spanco Telesystems and Solutions Ltd, who are setting up the giant wheels in Singapore, Beijing and six other locations across the world, have already approached the BMC. 8220;Beijing will have the largest eye in the world at 200 meters, but it8217;s difficult to go beyond 160 meters in Mumbai due to long monsoon period here,8221; said an official of the company.

The civic body, after scouting for land at Malabar Hill and Worli, has settled for a four acre site at Bandra Land8217;s End and will study its technical feasibility. Once approved, the Mumbai Eye will be come up in three years8217; time. The wax museum, earlier planned in in the Byculla Zoo, will now come up on a 10,000 sq feet land at Chowpaty 8212;in Birla Krida Kendra, a public performance space that itself is set for a revamp.

Sena, on insistence of its vice-president Uddhav Thackeray, also plans to develop a memorial 8216;Amar Javanjyot8217; at Azad maidan to commemorate the sacrifice of a Hindu Mangal Gadiya and a Muslim Sayyed Hussain in the 151st year of the 1857 revolt. MP Bharatkumar Raut is contributing Rs 25 lakh for the project.

The information centre, displaying information on the 106 martyrs and the events of 1960s that led to the separation of Maharashtra and Gujarat from the Bombay Presidency, will be built at Shivaji Park.