Tandel had called for a press conference on Thursday at the Marathi Patrakar Sangh to oppose the upcoming smarak in the Arabian Sea.
The memorial for Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj should ideally come up at Mahalaxmi Racecourse, said president of the Akhil Maharashtra Machhimar Kriti Samiti and member of the Shiv Sena Damodar Tandel.
Tandel had called for a press conference on Thursday at the Marathi Patrakar Sangh to oppose the upcoming smarak in the Arabian Sea. He added that the speedy approvals granted to the smarak lately were "illegal, without people's suggestions and objections, and also damaging to fishermen and aquatic life".
He informed the press that an environment interest litigation (EIL) has been filed with the National Green Tribunal. Mahalaxmi Racecourse was in the news earlier for Uddhav Thackeray's idea of a theme park.
"My opposition is not to the smarak. I am for it, but it should not be created in the Arabian Sea. They have not taken us into confidence before going ahead with that," said Tandel, adding that Sena's official stance will be out in a few days.
"Vinayak Mete, when he was in the NCP, started all that. He then moved to the BJP. While the earlier Congress-NCP government did not do anything, the BJP government has been rushing through it," alleged Tandel. "They want to make a hotel out there for the rich. Going there will cost a lot."
He suggested that a smarak with a theme park at the racecourse would be better. "Builders are anyway salivating seeing that piece of land."
Tandel's lawyer said the smarak was nothing but a mere show by political parties to get benefits for themselves. "Shivaji Maharaj was Janata Raja, he himself would have not wanted money to be spent on a statue and smarak when people do not have toilet facilities and other basic amenities. This an anti-Janata decision as they have gone ahead to ensure that there is no suggestion and objection. There are so many forts of his that are lying in ruins.
Why do they not do something about those?" said advocate Asim Sarode, Tandel's lawyer and president of the National Green Tribunal Bar Association (western zone, Pune).
dna tried contacting Mete but could not reach to him.
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