Maharashtra Governor reviews progress of Ambedkar Memorial in Mumbai

Mumbai: Maharashtra Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan along with Union Minister Ramdas Athawale and state Cabinet Minister Sanjay Bansode, reviewed the progress of the upcoming memorial of Bharat Ratna B.R. Ambedkar being constructed at the Indu Mills compound in Dadar, here on Tuesday.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) made a presentation of the ongoing work of the grand memorial construction to the visiting dignitaries on the 4.84 hectare plot.

"Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was a great nationalist leader. He sacrificed his life for equality. The memorial here is a fitting tribute to him and the importance of his works will be known to the masses," said the Governor on the occasion.

Radhakrishnan also expressed confidence that the monument on the shores of the Arabian Sea will help strengthen and further unite Indian society.

The Governor was given an overview of the strides made by the memorial, the facilities for physically challenged people and the measures taken to protect it from storms from the sea.

The facility will be an entire green area with 750-800 big trees coming up, plus a huge auditorium with a seating capacity of around 1,000 people, a 100-seater lecture hall-cum-research centre, an open 1,050 square metre meditation area, a library, an underground parking lot, and other amenities.

It will also feature a replica of the historic Chavdar Lake of Mahad town in Raigad district, where Dr. Ambedkar had carried out the epochal procession, 97 years ago (March 20, 1927) to throw the lake water open for the untouchables, and now the event is marked as Social Empowerment Day.

Present were the top officials of the Ambedkar Memorial Committee like Nagsen Kamble, Rahul Bodhi, Praveen Darade, Vijay Waghmare, the architect Shashi Prabhu and the sculptor Anil Sutar who has designed the gigantic bronze statue of B.R. Ambedkar here.

According to the MMRDA, the statue is 350-feet tall, standing on a 100-feet high pedestal which would have a Chaitya Hall with 24 copper-clad rib domes, an internal spiral ramp with a museum and exhibition gallery, and five lifts to take visitors from the hall to the statue base.