State not paying for Balasaheb memorial

In a bid to defend itself against allegations of funding the Bal Thackeray memorial at the Mayor’s bungalow in Dadar, the Maharashtra government on Wednesday claimed that it has not sanctioned a single penny from the taxpayer’s money. The government made the claim in an affidavit that it had submitted in the Bombay High Court.

The affidavit of Deputy Secretary of the Urban Development Department, was submitted before a division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice Nitin Jamdar. The judges were hearing two petitions challenging the proposed Thackeray Memorial, which will be constructed on the plot where the Mayor’s bungalow is situated. The petitions filed by two city-based activists challenged the proposed memorial, citing the decade-old Supreme Court ruling wherein the apex court had prohibited the use of government buildings for memorials. The activists also alleged that the government has sanctioned Rs 100 crore to the BMC for constructing the memorial.

The government in its affidavit claimed that the plot for construction of the memorial was finalised after the suggestion by an eight-member committee headed by the State’s Chief Secretary. The government also claimed that it has not favoured BMC or anyone in finalising the plot for the memorial.

The affidavit states, “The government had communicated to the civic body the terms and conditions for allotment of the bungalow for the memorial. We asked BMC to obtain all the requisite permissions from various agencies like the Heritage Committee and Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ). We had also asked the civic body to get a No-objection certificate from the Union Environment Ministry as well as the MCZMA.”