Recommendation soon over heritage tag for Savarkar Sadan: Civic body to HC
Savarkar Sadan, located in Dadar's Shivaji Park area, was once the residence of Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
The meeting and fresh recommendation was warranted after the Maharashtra government informed the high court last month that files pertaining to the case, including the recommendation submitted by the civic body in 2010, was destroyed in a fire at the Mantralaya (secretariat) in 2012.
On Wednesday, the
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation
(BMC) informed a bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep Marne that its Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) held a meeting last month on the issue and a recommendation would be sent to the state government soon.
You Can Also Check:
Mumbai AQI
|
Weather in Mumbai
|
Bank Holidays in Mumbai
|
Public Holidays in Mumbai
The court directed the BMC to file its affidavit and posted the matter for further hearing after three weeks.
The bench continued its earlier order directing for status quo to be maintained on any redevelopment activity at the structure.
A public interest litigation filed by Abhinav Bharat Congress, a Hindu organisation led by Pankaj Phadnis, had sought heritage protection for the building.
The PIL urged the state government to act on a 2010 recommendation to include the building in Mumbai's official heritage list.
The petitioner highlighted that despite this recommendation, the Urban Development Department failed to take action for over a decade.
The government, in its affidavit filed on July 28, said it could not take action on the recommendation submitted by the civic body's heritage committee approving Savarkar Sadan to be placed under the heritage list, as documents of the case were destroyed in the fire at the Mantralaya in 2012.
The department tried to search and/or recreate the destroyed files but the same could not be traced, the affidavit said.
The committee would hold a fresh meeting and submit its recommendation after which the government would take its final decision, it added. PTI
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
2 minutes ago
- The Hindu
VHP seeks probe into ‘conspiracy' to tarnish image of Dharmasthala
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) said on Friday that there is a 'systematic conspiracy' to tarnish the reputation of Shree Kshetra Dharmasthala using the case related to the alleged burial of bodies in Dharmasthala village over a decade ago. The case is being probed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). The State government should ensure that the sanctity of Dharmasthala Manjunatha Swamy temple is protected and the faith, beliefs and feelings of Hindus are not hurt during the investigation process, Deepak Rajgopal, president, and M.B. Puranik, immediate past president, South Karnataka unit of VHP said in a statement. 'The government should conduct an inquiry into the conspiracy being made to tarnish the reputation of Shree Kshetra Dharmasthala and into the attempts being made to create fissures in the Sanatana Dharma,' they said. The VHP said that using the statement of the complainant in the case, social media handlers and non-Hindu leaders are spreading false information on Dharmasthala. Global level media too published news on the case. 'This shows that there is an international level conspiracy to tarnish the image of Dharmasthala. It appears that the conspiracy is very large,' they said. The VHP said that some 'vested interests' and 'anti-Hindu forces' spreading slander against Dharmasthala and thus trying to tarnish its image is 'unpardonable'. 'Shree Kshetra Dharmasthala has rejuvenated many religious places. In addition, it is supporting education and feeding many people,' the VHP leaders said. They said that the VHP had been demanding for long an impartial probe into the rape and murder of Soujanya under the Belthangady police station limits in 2012. In addition, it had supported all 'non-prejudiced' agitations organised seeking justice for Soujanya, the VHP said.
News18
12 minutes ago
- News18
Opinion: What India Can Do Amid Trump's Tariff Pressure
Last Updated: Putting in place long-term policy framework on trade, investments, currencies, geo-political alignments to protect Bharat's interests must be priority United States President Donald Trump's adversarial tariff policy on India has largely been regarded 'flip-flop' hinting at fluid stance and diabolical in spirit and content. From being most favoured trading ally with minimal tariff proposal of 10 per cent in April 2025, India has been bracketed in the list of enemy countries that attract highest impost of 50 per cent. Numbers and data apart, there has been a lot of noise, nervousness and anxiety as clock ticked 4 pm in last few days in India. It's at about that time of the day Trump first announced 25 per cent and later doubled it to 50 per cent triggering a flurry of activity. Old-timers did not miss the drama, show, and high-decibel drama that Trump put on these days targeting one or other trading partners. It was the turn of Bharat in the last few days. A 21-day window announced for tariffs to kick in signalled that Trump was open to negotiation before inking the trade deal. It's one way of exerting pressure on New Delhi's negotiators to sign on a 'bad trade deal' which means granting US unhindered access to agriculture, fisheries and dairy sector in India. President Trump's optimism to drive a hard bargain also reflects from his statement, 'it's only been eight hours, let's see what happens…you are going to see a lot more and some secondary sanctions." The eight-hour time frame referred to by Trump hints at his 'wait, watch and strike' attitude in the midst of serious negotiations. Contrary to drama associated with Trump's diatribe, India's response has been mature, measured and nuanced in last fortnight within and outside the parliament. Unreasonable, unfair and unjustified is how India described Trump's executive order on 50 per cent levy. For the first time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stuck his neck out and took it upon himself the consequences of tariffs tantrums thrown by President Trump. Modi said unequivocally that he was willing to pay a heavy personal price as Trump's tariffs would impact large number of labour-intensive and rural sectors. First, Prime Minister Modi has taken personal responsibility for the impact trade pact and tariffs would have on 1.4 billion plus Indians. Modi's statement at International Centenary Conference on Thursday is very significant. He's not willing to compromise on protecting farmers, rural people interests and labour-intensive industrial sectors. Also, he was willing to face the political flak and pay heavy personal price on consequences given opposition parties' intransigent line on United States. Prime Minister Modi understands that throwing open the agriculture sector to US is not only economically unviable but politically unsalable to the core Hindu vote bank, Sangh parivar and the ecosystem. On factual analysis, the Modi government will have to deal with adverse impact on GDP growth of 0.2-0.4 per cent in case tariffs finally stay at 25 per cent during this fiscal. Top analysts estimate that entire US $ 86.5 billion annual goods exports from India to United States may turn non-competitive or commercially viable. Given that the US is top market for India and constitutes about 18 per cent of its global goods exports and constitutes 2.2 per cent GDP, strains have begun to appear on near future. Given Prime Minister Modi's steadfast commitment to protect India's national interests, Indian negotiators are breathing easy. The proposed 50 per cent duties, if they kick in finally, translate to unannounced trade sanctions or embargo on India thereby worsening the strain in relations between the two countries. One big fallout that's largely speculated was that India may not buy F-35 stealth fighter jet aircraft from United States. Factual position so far is that after US offered to sell these jets, formal negotiations have not yet begun. And, these discussions may remain a non-starter. Secondly, India may consider imposing retaliatory duties on 28 US products including its apples and walnuts given the precedent in 2019 to counter restrictive levies Washington DC had imposed on Indian steel and aluminium products. Thirdly, the arc of disengagement between India and US may widen for the time being unless recalibrates its trade and tariff policies. Fourthly, an aggressive campaign may be launched by the ruling party and the government to go local and opt for 'made in India' products and services. Fifthly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may mobilise people in socio-economic spheres for adapting 'swadeshi'. Sixthly, realigning India's trade, investment, economic, geo-strategic relations may be a big option. Russia, China and other countries engagement may be enhanced to counter-balance US Republican White House under President Trump's stewardship. Aligning with countries like Brazil who have been put on high tariff line by US could be an option. Seventhly, present developments may lead to expanding time-tested foreign policy of strategic autonomy to protect India's offensive and defensive interests. This may also be the right moment to promote south – south trade engagement. Eighthly, upcoming conclaves of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Quad and BRICS may be occasions for India to sharpen its policy framework for global engagement. Ninthly, evolving an independent financial architecture, decoupling from US dollar or hastening BRICS currency to opt for diversification in payments may also be considered. Tenthly, putting in place medium and long-term policy on currencies and oil will go the India way. The author is Director and Chief Executive of non-partisan New Delhi based think tank, Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views. view comments Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: August 08, 2025, 19:38 IST News opinion Opinion: What India Can Do Amid Trump's Tariff Pressure Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Time of India
16 minutes ago
- Time of India
Mumbai residents fear traffic chaos if flyover is demolished for coastal road project
Mumbai: Goregaon and Malad residents fear being landlocked to an extent if the Veer Savarkar flyover is demolished to make way for the Mumbai Coastal Road (North)–GMLR connector from Malad Mindspace up to Dindoshi. At Dindoshi, the piling work for the connector has already started. While the BMC has said it has no choice but to raze the bridge, local MLA Aslam Shaikh has warned that it could take commuters over an hour just to cross the junction. "The next 3–4 years will be a traffic nightmare in these areas," he said, pointing out that alongside the flyover's proposed demolition, work on the coastal road has already begun, and tunnelling for the Goregaon–Mulund Link Road (GMLR) is also set to start. TOI first reported the proposed demolition in its Aug 5 edition. Sandeep Patel, a former Goregaon corporator, pointed out that the Mrunal Tai Gore flyover—the alternate entry into the locality—gets severely congested during exhibitions at NESCO, with commuters taking up to an hour to cross it. You Can Also Check: Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai "If the Savarkar flyover is demolished, that would then be the only exit for southbound traffic," said Patel. Dhaval Shah of the Andheri Lokhandwala Citizens Association said that the Savarkar extension is a jugular vein for commuters of that region to cross over either side of the railway line. It will lead to a manifold increase in travel time and cause a lot of inconvenience. "Breaking should be done in the last phase when it is necessary, and planning should be done to get it restored on a war footing, unlike other projects which have very long gestation times for bridge projects," he said. Former BMC opposition leader Ravi Raja pointed out that as the Savarkar bridge was built for Rs 27 crore, not only will this result in a loss of public money, but it will also cause hardships to locals in their commute. "When this bridge was constructed, it was built because it was needed—so what about the people's needs now? In such a scenario, why isn't there a collective consideration of which projects will take place in Mumbai and what difficulties they might create for the public? What has happened in the case of the Veer Savarkar Bridge is entirely wrong, and it represents a loss of the tax money paid by Mumbaikars," said Raja. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
