Announced in 2017, work for GD Madgulkar memorial to finally commence
PMC held a groundbreaking ceremony for an exhibition centre at the proposed Madgulkar memorial on Saturday
After six years’ delay, the work for the proposed GD Madgulkar memorial in Kothrud will start now. On Saturday, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) held a groundbreaking ceremony for an exhibition centre at the proposed Madgulkar memorial with Pune district guardian minister Chandrakant Patil being the chief guest.
While the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) recently opened the Ga Di Madgulkar auditorium to the public, the PMC has hurriedly approved additional funds for the impending Madgulkar memorial in the city, which was proposed much before the auditorium in the neighbouring city.
As per the PMC’s original plan approved in 2017, the civic body had on paper made a provision of ₹8.5 crore for the memorial which is to be built on 6.27 acres with four storied-building featuring an auditorium with seating capacity of 300 people. Galleries depicting the personal life of the legendary poet and his literary works would be a part of the memorial.
Last week, the civic body sanctioned ₹8 crores for the completion of the memorial of the famed Marathi author at the Mahatma Society in Kothrud. Former Mayor Murlidhar Mohol proposed this project five years ago, but since, the development work has been going at a lumbering pace.
During the ground-breaking ceremony of an exhibition on Saturday, Patil said, “Ga Di Madgulkar played an important role in shaping modern Maharashtra’s culture. Owing to his creation, the Geet Ramayan, Ramayana reached every household in the state. If needed, the PMC will allocate more funds for this memorial. Even if the GA Di Madgulkar’s family members have any suggestions, they would be incorporated.”
After funds allocation, the civic authorities held the ground-breaking ceremony two years ago, but the memorial is yet to see the light of the day.
On the contrary, the PCMC proposed the project much later and completed the state-of-the-art auditorium, which was recently inaugurated by Deputy Chief Minister (DCM) Devendra Fadnavis.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has slammed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for delaying the work.
Senior NCP leader Ankush Kakade said, “Ga Di Madgulkar’s contribution to Marathi literature needs no introduction. However, the BJP has failed to honour such an eminent personality, by failing to complete his memorial five years after it was approved.”
Madgulkar wrote over 150 screenplays and 2,000 songs. He is popularly called the “modern day Valmiki” for his milestone work “Geet Ramayana”.