Jadhav, in his petition, had claimed that the locality and particularly the footpath where the open gym was constructed had earlier been declared a heritage site.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta to form a three-member committee under him to look into the issue of setting up an open gym at the Marine Drive promenade – a heritage precinct.
While disposing off the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by social worker Vijay Jadhav, the division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice A K Menon noted that the final decision on the gym must be be taken by the committee. The three-member panel will comprise Mehta, Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria and chairman of the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC), V Ranganathan.
Jadhav, in his petition, had claimed that the locality and particularly the footpath where the open gym was constructed had earlier been declared a heritage site. The petition stated the footpath was meant for walking but the civic body was bent on supporting an open gym constructed by D N Fitness, which is affiliated to Shiv Sena – the ruling party in the
corporation. Jadhav urged the court to cancel the permission granted to D N Fitness by the civic body on July 14 in this regard.
Appearing for Jadhav, advocate Ashok Sarogi said that a former Congress MP had sought permission for the same spot in 2013 but it was denied on the ground that it was a heritage place.
Meanwhile, the court also suggested that Mehta must reconsider the installation of sodium vapour lamps at Marine Drive. The BMC had replaced the lamps with white LEDs in January, as part of a Rs 250-crore plan to switch all street
lighting in the city to energy-efficient units. The corporation had claimed it would save over Rs 80 crore in electricity bills.
The Chief Justice, however, while hearing a presentation on traffic arrangement in the city, had expressed that the Queen's Necklace stretch should have yellow instead of white light, and that BMC must complete the work by August 15.
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