The National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), which auctioned the Mehrangir bungalow last year where Dr Homi Bhabha lived, is relying on documents of the state archaeological and museums department and Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) to negate the claim of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) representatives that the bungalow is 100 years old and can be declared a national monument.
The National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), which auctioned the Mehrangir bungalow last year where Dr Homi Bhabha lived, is relying on documents of the state archaeological and museums department and Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) to negate the claim of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) representatives that the bungalow is 100 years old and can be declared a national monument.
The DAE representatives, led by Prashant Worlikar, recently met BJP leaders in Delhi, urging them to take up the bungalow issue with prime minister Narendra Modi.
The representatives, who had moved the Bombay high court, seeking a stay on the auction, are now opposing the transfer of the property before the charity commissioner, which is to come up for hearing on Tuesday.
Recently, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had written a letter to the prime minister, saying Ram Vitthal Dhuri had made available a survey map as evidence to prove that the iconic bungalow had appeared in the map surveyed in 1915 and corrected in 1932.
The two documents which the NCPA is relying on clarify that the bungalow was built to its present structure only in 1941 and thus does not meet the criteria mentioned under the Maharashtra Ancient Monument and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act. A report of MHCC states that the bungalow does not warrant listing as a heritage structure on account of its association with Dr Bhabha.
Last June, the bungalow was auctioned by the NCPA for Rs372 crore. The DAE employees, however, demanded that the property be declared a heritage site. Last April, the DAE had written a letter to the state, requesting it to give the property heritage status. It had also approached HC, which directed them to make representation to the Centre for declaring it a national monument.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}