Thane: The Bollywood theme park caught in development hell

The plot was to have 10 sets of popular Bollywood films along with other amenities for citizens. Pics/Satej Shinde

Nine years after it decided to convert a garden in Thane's Lokmanya Nagar into a Bollywood theme park, the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has still not been able to make good on its commitment. Fed up with the neglected plot which has become a haunt for drug addicts and anti-social elements, locals are demanding that the TMC just develop a regular park and complete the project.

The TMC had taken up the work of converting the Appa Saheb Patil Garden of Lokmanya Nagar into a Bollywood park. Its ground-breaking ceremony was held on August 25, 2014. Since then, the theme park remains under development.

"Anti-social elements frequent the area at night," resident Dinkar Phulsundar told mid-day. "We have been waiting for nine years for this theme park to be ready. With no security measures in place, drug addicts have made it their haven. We do not want a theme park anymore. The TMC should just develop a regular playground, which will be more useful to citizens," Phulsundar said.

A local activist, Swapnil Mahindrakar, said, "The Red Fort was built within 10 years, but the TMC can't build a theme park in nine years. If the TMC approved the proposal in 2015, how did it conduct a ground-breaking ceremony in 2014? The TMC just announced the project to gain publicity, but on the ground, the results are zero."

The proposed theme park replaced the Appa Saheb Patil Garden of Lokmanya Nagar, Thane

Gardens ignored elsewhere

Even as the theme park remains neglected, TMC's rental housing colonies have no gardens. Mahesh Mishra, a resident of Khewra Circle rental housing colony said, "There was a small area in our colony which was developed as a garden and was supposed to be maintained by the TMC. However, even though we pay the TMC rent for staying in this colony, it has not bothered to maintain the garden during the last six years. Children can't access it as the vegetation is overgrown."

The situation Khewra Circle's rental colony is the same as the rental colony in Lokmanya Nagar. "We have never once seen the garden maintained. Children's playground equipment like swings and other materials are completely damaged here," a resident of the rental colony said.

Dinkar Phulsundar, resident; Mahesh Mishra, resident, Khewra Circle rental colony, on TMC's neglect of gardens; Swapnil Mahindrakar, local activist

TMC's Additional Municipal Commissioner Prashant Rode, who is in charge of the Garden department, said that he will need to check the status of the project.

4,000sqm
Area of the plot

2015
Year TMC okayed R20 cr proposal

2017
Year work on the park began