Nagpur: Union Transportation Minister Nitin Gadkari had proposed two multimedia shows in the city one on the history of the city at Futala Lake and another on the life of Swami Vivekananda at Ambazari.
While the Ambazari show was cancelled by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) which handed over the garden for development, the executing agency Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) unnecessarily delays the second.
NIT had named Studio One and Khalatkar Constructions consortia to prepare the script for the Futala series. Over a month ago the draft was introduced to NIT officials. The draft was to be given to the members of the steering committee who were to approve it. The leaders, however, have yet to obtain it.
The committee is composed of Municipal Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe, NIT chairman Sheetal Ugale, BJP corporator Dayashankar Tiwari, former MLC Girish Gandhi and Bhau Salpekar. Tiwari expressed frustration about the delay and requested that NIT convene a meeting immediately and send the script to a committee.
The multimedia show is to last 30 minutes. The first 10 minutes will include a commentary on the more than 300 years of history in the city and the remaining 20 minutes will be pure entertainment. The draft of the script of the history of the city is ready and, if necessary, has to be accepted with changes and corrections to prepare the final script for the consortium. Until the script is ready the project can not go forward.
For the project, NIT has been roping in many prominent personalities. Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman will provide music while the sound engineer is Resul Pookutty, another Academy Award winner. The show has many more notable names to it.
Whereas, work on the spectator gallery that MahaMetro will create is yet to begin. The seating capacity of the gallery will be 4,000 and will be 300 meters long. The cement road work behind the gallery is currently underway. Metro officials committed to completing the work at the gallery by year-end.
The gallery will have a tensile fabric roof that should last for up to 40 years. Beneath the exhibition, Metro will construct 30 shops and 10 ticket counters. The stores will sell primarily food items.
In addition, Metro will construct a multi-level parking area near the building. It will have the capacity to handle 350 two-wheelers and 350 vehicles. This won’t get ready by the end of the year.
