4 corporators to be part of third-party audit for Bollywood theme park project:Thane mayor

Thane mayor has demanded the presence of four corporators or people’s representatives during the third-party audit of Bollywood theme park project, which is mired

Thane mayor has demanded the presence of four corporators or people’s representatives during the third-party audit of Bollywood theme park project, which is mired in controversy.

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The corporators questioned the delay in completion of the park in the general body meeting of Thane Municipal Corporation on Thursday, prompting mayor Naresh Mhaske to take the decision.

“There have been repeated questions on Bollywood theme park. I have asked for a third-party audit wherein four corporators from different political parties will accompany the officials,” said Mhaske.

The Bollywood theme park is a ₹20-crore project initiated in 2014. Bollywood theme park at Vartak Nagar, covers 4,000 sq m of area.

Corporators said construction has not progressed for almost two years.

TMC has already paid the contractor ₹6.68 crore for recreating film sets at a Karjat workshop. On Thursday, it came to light that the contractor has not returned the money to TMC.

Shiv Sena corporator Dashrath Palande said, “In the last general body meeting, during the tenure of former mayor Meenakshi Shinde, it was decided that no more money will be spent on the theme park. Instead, it will be made into a garden. I raised a question to know about the status of that garden.”

Ravindra Khadtale, city engineer, TMC, said, “The work of the Bollywood theme park is nearing completion and will be open for public soon. We had initiated work based on instructions from the former mayor.”

Former mayor Meenakshi Shinde said, “I had also given instructions to recover the money which was not used by the contractor.”

“The civic body is spending crores on theme parks despite being unable to allocate funds for cleaning drains and building roads. The administration is splurging the taxpayers’ money on unimportant projects,” said Vikas Repale, corporator.