Mumbai: Colaba residents oppose installation of Bal Thackeray statue by BMC, cite Supreme Court 2013 order

19-01-2021

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Sunday installed the statue of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray in Mumbai�s Colaba, prompting some residents to oppose the move on grounds of a 2013 Supreme Court order that stated that no statue would be installed on public roads. The statue was placed by the civic body at a traffic island on MG Road at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Chowk and is wrapped for now as some work is pending before its inauguration. �There is a 2013 SC order which states that no statues can be installed on public roads. The safety of pedestrians is affected, and when there are events when the statue will be garlanded, the road will be closed. Ours is a safety issue and not political. There will be hundreds of people taking selfies and it will create a traffic problem. There is no space on the traffic island,� Vice admiral (retired) IC Rao, president of NGO Apli Mumbai told news agency. He added that the SC order came when the Kerala government had proposed the installation of a statue of late N Sundaran Nadar, former deputy speaker of Kerala legislative assembly on a traffic island. It applies to all states and Union Territories, he said.

Balasaheb's sacrifice unparalleled: Yashwant Jadhav
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Shiv Sena corporator and head of civic standing committee Yashwant Jadhav also said, �Balasaheb Thackeray�s sacrifice for Mumbai is unparalleled. So everyone wants a tribute fit for him. The island previously selected was too small. At the current location there is enough space for people to step in and pay homage to Balasaheb. All relevant permission is in place. No Mumbaikar will oppose Balasaheb�s statue. Those opposing it are being used for political motives.�