A Shiv Jayanti procession in the city. File
The political one-upmanship over celebrating Shiv Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Maratha king Shivaji, continued in the state, with the BJP-led Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) coming up with a plan for the ‘best celebrations’ in the city.
The civic body also passed a resolution to celebrate Shiv Jayanti on February 19, the state government’s official date for celebrations every year.
Mayor Murlidhar Mohol recently called a meeting of various city organisations that celebrate Shiv Jayanti to draw up a plan. “We will celebrate Shiv Jayanti in such a way that it will be the best in the state,” said Mohol after the meeting.
Drawing competitions will be organised in 300 civic schools to mark the Maratha king’s birth anniversary, and an appeal would also be made to private schools to organise such events, said the Pune mayor.
Representatives of the organisations proposed that all the celebrations should be held on the same day, on February 19. The civic body is going to communicate the same to the state government.
Some of the organisations raised concerns about the absence of senior police officers in the meeting, but Mohol assured them that he will hold discussions with the city police commissioner about the requisite permissions to take out Shiv Jayanti processions. “The city police are busy in review meetings to prepare for the visit of President Ram Nath Kovind to the city next week,” he said.
On the delay in Shiv Srishti project — a proposed memorial of the Maratha king to be set up in Kothrud — the mayor said the PMC was in discussions with the district administration for acquisition of land for the project. “The land is reserved for a bio-diversity park, so the PMC and the state government will frame new rules for making the land available for the project,” said Mohol.
The mayor also said renovation work on the heritage structure of Lal Mahal, where Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had spent his childhood, was on and it would be completed in the next two months.