Mumbai: Chembur’s Ashok stambh to be inaugurated today

The chief minister will inaugurate the Ashok stambh on Thursday tonight. Pic/Rajesh Gupta

The Ashok stambh outside Ambedkar garden in Chembur is finally complete, after 17 long years. The BMC accelerated the construction work after this paper's report last December. The chief minister will inaugurate the national emblem tonight (Thursday, April 13), said Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale.

The BMC had sanctioned the construction of Ashok stambh as part of the beautification of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Udyan. The garden is the second most important place for Ambedkarites, after Chaitya Bhoomi in Dadar.

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The beautification project started in 2005 and among other works, the base and the pillar of the Ashok stambh were built. However, there had been no progress for years since 2008. On December 6 last year, mid-day reported about the stalled work and Shewale took cognisance of the report and pursued the matter.

"The emblem is our national symbol and it was painful to see it incomplete. I am happy to see it is getting inaugurated soon," he said. Nutan Sanjkar, an activist who went on a hunger strike in 2012 demanding the completion of the pillar, said, "I am happy that the stambh has finally been completed and will shine in front of Ambedkar garden, day before his birth anniversary. My little efforts to attract the attention of local representatives were successful."