Mumbai: Even as the full-fledged film on the life of Balasaheb is slated for public exhibition, the proposed grand memorial of the Shiv Sena patriarch seems to have landed in fresh trouble. A PIL was filed in the Bombay High Court on Thursday accusing the Maharashtra government of blatantly violating environment norms for construction of the memorial at Shivaji Park, Dadar.
A city-based activist, Santosh Daundkar, moved the court alleging that the government and officials of the Shiv Sena-controlled BMC have ignored mandatory rules for construction, by changing the ‘use of land’ on which the Mayor’s bungalow rests.
The plot also happens to be a designated green land. So, there is a blatant violation of law, particularly the Environment Protection Act 1986 and the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification 2011. The plea claims that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has not granted any permission to the Maharashtra government for changing the use of land. The changes are being carried out on the basis of oral discussions, which are not authenticated by MoEF.
The PIL further claims that even the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management has grant an NOC for the change of land use by abdicating its statutory authority. The petition further states that orders for demolition of a part of the bungalow have been given even though it is a heritage structure dating back to 1930
