Mumbai: The Maharashtra government will celebrate the upcoming 350th anniversary of the Coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in a big way with an outlay of Rs 350 crore, besides setting up a museum dedicated to him in Pune.
Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced the plans during his budget 2023-2024 speech, for the weeklong ‘Shiv Rajyabhishek Mahotsav’ celebrations starting from June 2.
The founder of Hindavi Swarajya, the Maratha warrior ascended the throne at Raigad Fort on June 6, 1674, and became known as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Shivneri Fort, where he was born, will get a museum on the life and times of the Chhatrapati and an amount of Rs 300 crore will be spent to revamp and conserve the major forts of his glorious era.
The government will spend Rs 50 crore to set up a ‘Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Theme Park’ at Ambegaon, Pune, said Fadnavis.
Public parks with audio-visual media facilities shall be developed in Mumbai, Amravati, Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Nagpur to tell the story of the life of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at a cost of Rs 250 crore.
As part of the initiative, a leopard safari will be started in Pune while a Rs 270 crore plan has been approved for Swarajya Rakshak Dharmaveer Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Balidaan Sthal in Tuljapur and at Shirur in Pune.
The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders of Congress-Nationalist Congress Party-Shiv Sena (UBT) have slammed the government asking the budget has made no mention or allocation for the much-anticipated grand memorial of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the Arabian Sea off Mumbai coast.
They pointed out that way back on December 24, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sailed in a boat to perform the ajal pujan’ at the prospective spot where the memorial is planned in the sea off Raj Bhavan, but after that there’s no movement on the project, expected to cost around Rs 3,600 crore.
–IANS
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