No tree will be cut for Bal Thackeray memorial, says Uddhav

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said not a single tree will be cut at the site where a memorial to Shiv Sena founder, the late Bal Thackeray, has been proposed in the city.

Talking to reporters, he said instead, indigenous tree species will be planted at Priyadarshini Garden, the site of the proposed memorial here in central Maharashtra.

Thackeray visited Priyadarshini Garden and after examining the location of the memorial and its related plan, said more trees should be planted at the site.

The garden was at the centre of a controversy after Amruta Fadnavis, the wife of former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, in early December tweeted about media reports that suggested that the memorial would require felling of some 1,000 trees.

After the controversy, Thackeray, who is also the Shiv Sena president, asked the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation, ruled by his party, to ensure no tree is hacked for the monument dedicated to his late father.

During his visit to Priyadarshini Garden, Thackeray discussed the details of memorial plan with agencies which have prepared it.

"We are not going to cut even a single tree here. Instead, we are going to plant more indigenous trees," said Thackeray.