Finally, the much awaited work for the proposed memorial of Shiv Sena’s founder Bal Thackeray will begin today. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will lay the foundation stone of the memorial through a video conference on Wednesday. The proposed memorial will come up at the heritage Mumbai Mayor's Bungalow near Shivaji Park in Dadar.
According to a Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) official, Tata has been awarded the work at an estimated cost of Rs 180 crore. The selected agency is expected to complete the work in a 14-month time period, including monsoon. The scope of work mainly includes the construction of the entrance block, artists center, interpretation centre, heritage conservation, restoration of the Mayor's bungalow and conversion into museum, and landscaping and beautification of the premises.
The said project has been divided into two phases. Phase one includes civil work and phase two includes illumination and preparation of digital mapping, films and audio visuals, amongst others, for the memorial to start its operations.
The state government will reimburse the cost of the project to MMRDA, which has been appointed as the implementing agency, said the official.
Recently, MMRDA had obtained approvals from the state cabinet on the revised estimate for the construction of the memorial since it received very high bids.
The first tender was floated in February, 2019, of Rs 87.46 crore. However, this tender was scrapped and a fresh tender was issued. Reportedly, for the memorial work, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had handed over the 11,500 square metres of Dadar's sea-facing property to the Balasaheb Thackeray Rashtriya Smarak Nyas (trust) in November 2018.
