Civic body plans to alter rules to pay tribute to 105 martyrs

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) seems to think that it is not a crime to bend rules for a noble cause.

The civic body plans to erect a museum on the erstwhile Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Olympic Swimming Pool plot to pay tribute to the 105 martyrs who laid down their lives during the Samyukta Maharashtra movement, which led to the formation of the state in 1960.

The civic body’s plan violates the developmental control regulations (DCR) of 1991.

One of the regulations states: In case of plots for swimming pool, recreation ground (RG) and playground being used for ancillary uses, construction can only be permitted (in a suitable location so as to keep as much of the remaining space open) up to 15%.

“The BMC plan to build a museum on the swimming pool plot is a clear violation of the DCR. The concept of museum is good, but the location is not right. RG plots are not meant for building museums,” a local resident said on condition of anonymity.

Interestingly, the planned museum does not figure in the copy of the plan obtained by local RTI activists from the ministry of environment and forests in Delhi.

Work is in full swing at the site to meet the April 30 deadline. The museum will be inaugurated on May 1, the 50th birth anniversary of Maharashtra.