Writes to Centre for suggestions on how to get around HC’s ‘silence zone’ tag.
The government on Wednesday said it was working to make the historic Shivaji Park available for political events by overcoming a high court order banning such events at the ground.
Minister of state for urban development Bhaskar Jadhav said the state government had written to the Centre and the Union ministry of environment and forests through its advocate general to suggest methods to overcome the Bombay high court’s order that declared the Shivaji Park a silence zone, thus banning political events, with some exceptions.
It was the declaration of Shivaji Park as a silence zone that had led to a political wrangling before the Mumbai civic elections after MNS leader Raj Thackeray was denied permission for his rally. However, the Shiv Sena got permission to hold its rally at Shivaji Park. An angry Raj Thackeray had accused the BMC and state government of partisanship and claimed he was being denied his political rights.
In the Vidhan Parishad on Tuesday, leader of the Opposition Vinod Tawde and others had, in a calling attention motion, said Shivaji Park had been used for political purposes since 1942.
“Mahatma Gandhi’s rallies, the rally calling for Mumbai’s inclusion in a Samyukta Maharashtra, the victory rally to celebrate India’s win over Pakistan in the 1965 war and the oath-taking ceremony of the Shiv Sena-BJP government were all held at Shivaji Park,” Tawde said in his calling motion. He said there are many ways the government can overcome the HC order that banned political rallies within 100m from hospitals, courts, schools and religious places. Near Shivaji Park are a Ganpati temple, a 15-bed nursing home and a court.
“The temple is about 85m away. If the government were to build a jogging track within the park’s perimeter and thus bring the park’s boundary 20m inside, then there would be a distance of 100m from the park to the temple,” he said, adding that the park should be made available only to national leaders.
Minister of state for urban development Bhaskar Jadhav said the government shared the Opposition’s sentiment about the importance of Shivaji Park. He said they had asked the advocate general to say that only registered religious places be recognised as being part of the silence zone.
He said the state government wanted hospitals to be defined as having at least 25 beds and schools as those with at least 500 students.
“Political rallies can be held when the court is not functioning (in the evening) and on holidays so it does not disturb others,” he said. Jadhav said the state government was awaiting the Centre’s reply.
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