PUNE: Sarasbaug, one of the most popular religious and tourist attractions in the city, has a rich history. To make this historical place famous worldwide, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has decided to convert it into an international tourist spot.
The civic body will make an integrated development plan to develop Sarasbaug in coming years. Recently, the PMC Standing Committee chairman tabled a budget of Rs 7,390 crore for the year 2020-21 in which the committee allocated Rs 5 crore for the project. However, the amount is insufficient to develop 32 acres of area. So, PMC will take help from private players for the development of gardens.
PPP MODEL FOR DEVP
Standing Committee Chairman Hemant Rasane said, “Sarasbaug and Peshwe gardens were developed by the PMC Garden Department more than 50 years ago.”
Rasane further said, “Now, we have decided to develop gardens on a large scale with international standards. The place has potential and it has religious as well as historical and heritage value. We will use the option of the Build Operate Transfer (BoT) or Public-Private Partnership (PPP) to develop it.”
BOTANICAL GARDEN
According to the Standing Committee budget document, the civic body will make a master plan of Sarasbaug and Peshwe garden. It will develop a botanical garden on 32 acres of land around the oldest and historical Ganesh temple. It will include a biodiversity centre, a library, ecological study and information centre, and cultural park theatre. In this plan, the corporation has planned a horticulture park, seasonal flower garden and smart city’s innovative concept of urban place-making will also be implemented while developing the gardens. Besides that, parking facility, hawker zone, food plaza too will be developed.
MORE THAN 225 YEARS OLD GANPATI TEMPLE
As mentioned in the corporation’s history book, it was the idea of then municipal commissioner Bhujangrao Kulkarni to convert Sarasbaug into a garden in 1950. Ganpati temple in Sarasbaug was built by Madhavrao Peshwa in 1784. It is known as the Talyatla Ganpati (as it is located in the middle of a lake).