Construction of Ambedkar memorial to begin after Apr 14: CM

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today informed the Legislative Council that the construction of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's memorial at Indu Mills compound here will begin after April 14 this year.
He also assured that leaders cutting across political parties would be invited for any future events related to the memorial.
Raising the issue during the Question Hour, NCP's Prakash Gajbhiye said even nearly six months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the memorial, construction work is yet to start and that the land has not been transferred to the state government yet.
In his reply, Fadnavis said the state government has signed an MoU with the Centre, according to which it has received blanket permissions to start the work.

"We have been given all the rights by the Centre. The land price that was pegged at Rs 3,200 crore during the last government's tenure has been brought down to Rs 1,423 crore. Transferring the land is only a technical matter which will happen soon," he said.
"We have been advised to start work at the site after April 14 (Ambedkar's birth anniversary) because there will be a large congregation of people at the site then. That may hinder work," he said.

Replying to a query, Fadnavis said that the cost of the plot will be generated through the Transferable Development Rights (TDR) option and added that the Centre, too, is willing to contribute for the land.

NCP's Hemant Takle then asked if the state government has thought something on the upkeep of the memorial once it is completed.
Fadnavis, in his response, said MMRDA will initially be responsible for the memorial's upkeep and an independent authority, working under the government, will be constituted, for the maintenance of the memorial.