Former BMC chief Sitaram Kunte had set aside Rs40 crore for the museum's expansion in last year's civic budget. Rs5 crore was also proposed to be added to the museum's corpus fund. However, with the expansion plans failing to take off, the funds lapsed.
In a big setback for the Bhau Daji Lad museum trust, the BMC has virtually scrapped its expansion plan by making no provision for the same in the civic budget. BMC chief Ajoy Mehta has neither kept aside any money for expanding the museum nor made any announcement regarding the expansion.
Former BMC chief Sitaram Kunte had set aside Rs40 crore for the museum's expansion in last year's civic budget. Rs5 crore was also proposed to be added to the museum's corpus fund. However, with the expansion plans failing to take off, the funds lapsed.
"No budgetary provision has been made for the museum's expansion. The expansion is set to be scraped or put in cold storage. If you take a look at the budget, it clearly shows that the BMC is only interested in running the museum in its current form," said a senior civic official.
Following directions from Mehta to review the civic body's agreement with the museum trust, the BMC has come up with a set of measures through which it will have more operational control over the museum.
Last year, the expansion plan which the BMC had selected usurped a playground adjacent to the museum, converting it into a landscaped garden and had, as a result, faced stern opposition from locals. New York-based firm Steven Holl Architects was to collaborate with Mumbai's Opolis Architects to design the ambitious project spread over two acres, juxtaposing the existing colonial structure in Byculla.
Estimated to cost Rs400 crore, the new museum was expected to be ready in three-and-a-half years. However, soon after Kunte's ouster from the BMC and the civic general body's decision to scrap the museum trust's agreement, the expansion plan was held back.
Now with no money set aside for it, the plan is as good as scrapped.
"It is unfortunate that the BMC has not made any new budgetary allocation. We are facing a tough time giving our staff salaries. Many of the employees are leaving too. We are running the museum only with the interest from the corpus fund. It is the BMC's responsibility to provide funds for the museum's maintenance," said Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, the museum's honorary director.
"If the BMC doesn't want to give money, then it should give autonomy to the museum. I can raise money from the market based on my good work, the trust and faith people have on me. But then, the BMC must not interfere in the museum's activities. The corporators and bureaucrats are also responsible for the museum. We had sought Rs25 crore for the expansion and Rs6-7 crore for the corpus fund, but we got nothing."
BMC chief Ajoy Mehta was not available for comment.
Civic officials said the BMC would soon set up a mechanism where it would take operational control of the museum. Ajoy Mehta has called for a report on it; officials said the report, spelling out the BMC's action plan, would be ready by next week.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Museum")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}