No revenue makes maintenance difficult for Shivaji Vyayam Mandal, mountaineering association.
Touted as India’s best indoor climbing wall, the Raje Shivaji climbing wall at Shri Shivaji Vyayam Mandal in Shivajinagar is out of operation for the last six months.
Constructed at a cost of Rs1.25 crore, the wall evoked great enthusiasm among mountaineers right from its inauguration on May 8 last year.
The local corporator, Balasaheb Bodke, who is also president of the Mandal, and mountaineering experts blame the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) administration for the closure of the wall, as the civic body failed to put in place a proper revenue sharing model.
“As the PMC constructed the wall, the Mandal was not allowed to charge the general public for using it. It was not possible for the Mandal to maintain the wall in the absence of a proper revenue source,” said Bodke.
Surendra Shelke, secretary of Pimpri-Chinchwad Mountaineering Association, also blamed the PMC administration. “The maintenance of the wall is a costly affair and for the first six months, it was undertaken by the Mandal and the association jointly. However, it was not viable for both of us and thus, we had to stop its functioning,” he said.
Both Bodke and Shelke met municipal commissioner, Mahesh Zagade, two months ago to draw his attention towards the issue. “However, there was no response from the administration,” said Shelke.
When contacted, zonal commissioner (Zone 1), Vijay Dahibhate said, “The mountaineering association was supposed to maintain the wall as per the original agreement. However, they wrote back within six months expressing inability to do so. Fresh proposals are being drawn up by the civic body to allow the mountaineering association to charge users to generate money for maintenance.”
According to him, it would take a month for the proposals to be finalised and placed before the PMC standing committee for approval.
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