The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has prepared a detailed plan (DP) to erect the long-pending national memorial to Kranti Jyoti Savitribai Phule at Bhidewada, where the first girls’ school was started by Savitribai and Mahatma Phule. A tender worth ₹7.26 crore was floated on June 29 for this project which will take around nine months to complete. As per the approved design and drawings, the total construction area comprising basement parking plus ground plus three floors will be approximately 1289.58 square metre.
The preliminary estimate of ₹8.5 crore has been approved by the PMC estimate committee one week ago. The deadline for submitting tenders is July 16.
Yuvraj Deshmukh, chief engineer of the building construction department of the PMC said, “Bhidewada memorial will be a four-storeyed structure, including the ground floor. The basement will have two-wheeler parking. Statues of Mahatma Phule and Savitribai Phule will be placed on the ground floor. The first floor will feature facilities for watching and listening to films around their social work in various languages. The upper floors will include a library and training classes for women’s empowerment.”
On February 21, 2006, the PMC had approved turning Bhidewada into a national monument. In the following years, funds were set aside for its restoration. However as the matter was sub-judice, the PMC could not develop Bhidewada. In October 2023, the high court (HC) division bench of justice Gautam Patel and Kamal Khata permitted the government and PMC to acquire Bhidewada. The decision came after the case had been pending for over a decade.