Rs 4.5 cr memorial to Maulana Azad

KOREGAON Park will be the address for a beautiful and regal structure resembling a palace. This resplendent work of art, spread over 8,963 square metres on plot number 296, T P Scheme, Sangamwadi, will be called Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad Memorial.
Planned by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), the memorial has cost Rs 4.5 crore to create. Madhav Latkar, development engineer (sewage), told PT that the project began three years ago.
"Maulana Azad was as involved in our freedom struggle as Gandhi and Nehru and we should give him due credit," he said, adding, "Besides, this land belonged to the PMC." The memorial building will be a single storied structure with a terrace.
The ground floor will consist of a conference hall, library, computer room, office and museum. The museum will house memorabilia that belonged to Maulana Azad. There will be two rooms for an art gallery, besides enough open space for food stalls.
A spiral staircase will take visitors to the top floor, where marble banisters and trimmings will decorate a large multipurpose hall complete with stage and air conditioning. The PMC hopes to open the memorial by November. The memorial will be open to the public free of cost.