Two plots proposed for mayor’s house in Mumbai

DP has also cleared decks for the Bal Thackeray memorial by changing the land reservation.

The Development Plan 2034 has suggested two plots to build a new bungalow for city’s mayor either at Shivaji Park in Dadar or in Mahalaxmi.

The mayor’s bungalow spread across 11,551 square meters will be turned into a Thackeray memorial. (HT Photo)

It has also cleared decks for the Bal Thackeray memorial by changing the land reservation of the current mayor’s bungalow at Shivaji Park.

Of the two proposed plots, the Shivaji Park one is next to the current mayor’s bungalow, a grade-II heritage structure. Their land reservation has been changed from gymkhana to municipal housing.

Measuring 4,345 square meters, the plot at Shivaji Park has an existing gymkhana, while another gymkhana spread over 12,000 square meters has been proposed at Mahalaxmi.

Earlier, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillors had objected to the proposed gymkhana at Mahalaxmi.

They had suggested that the land be used for mayor’s bungalow; however, the Shiv Sena later gave a sanction for gymkhana. On the other hand, the Shivaji Park plot already has a gymkhana for municipal officers.

BJP corporator Prabhakar Shinde said, “I was the first one to oppose the gymkhana proposal and suggested the land be used to house mayor. The Sena, however, sanctioned the gymkhana. I strongly believe that the mayor should get a residence very soon.”

The mayor’s bungalow spread across 11,551 square meters will be turned into a Thackeray memorial. The change in reservation will be put for suggestions and objections before it is finalised.

The state government had already given its nod to convert the bungalow into a memorial.

The Rs50-crore memorial will also have a conference hall and a guest house. The structure was used by the royal family of Bikaner in the late 1920s and taken over by the civic body a decade later.

It was initially used as a municipal office before it became the mayor’s official residence.