The traffic island at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Chowk, opposite the Maharashtra state police headquarters in ... Read More

MUMBAI: A four-year-old proposal for a nine-foot statue of Shiv Sena supremo, the late Bal Thackeray , in south Mumbai is likely to see the light of the day soon, with the party coming to power in the state. The party is keen to get the statue up by January 23, 2020, which marks the 94th birth anniversary of the Sena founder.

In October 2015, the former BMC standing committee chairman, Yashodhar Phanse, had tabled a letter before the political group leaders’ meeting, urging the then city mayor Snehal Ambekar to consider the proposal to set up the statue in Mumbai. The letter was then sent to the municipal commissioner for sanction. It later received the civic body’s green signal. The proposal was tabled before the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) for approval earlier this year.

The site under consideration is the triangular traffic island at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Chowk, opposite Maharashtra state police headquarters. As the area is a part of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) sub-precinct at Fort, and close to the grade I fountain in the roundabout opposite Regal Cinema, MHCC permission is mandatory. The statue will come up on a 11-foot high square podium on a two-foot high landscaped portion within the traffic island. The sides of the base will have mirror-polished stone, on the edge of the traffic island, along with the sixmetre wide footpath.

BMC officials said the statue will also require the nod of the Mumbai Urban Arts Commission (MUAC), which looks into regulating installations and maintenance of art works in public places. “MUAC must give the green light as the statue needs to look exactly the way Bal Thackeray looked. Panel experts can point out changes, if required,” said a source.

Bal Thackeray’s son, Uddhav Thackeray, who recently took over as chief minister, is keen on having the statue ready for the birth anniversary.

