Mumbai: More than two years after the iconic aeroplane structure at Lions Garden in Santacruz (W) was demolished in December 2010, a brandnew ‘Boeing’ is all set to make a landing at the venue.
The garden, better known as ‘aeroplane park’ after Air India donated a concrete replica of a Boeing 707-437 to the park minders in the 1960s, became a huge attraction, with kids flocking there from all over the city. Such was the popularity of the aeroplane at the park that on weekends, people had to queue up to enter it.
However, tragedy struck in March 2009, when an eight-year-old boy, Praveen Jamdale, died after a part of the aeroplane structure collapsed on him. A few months later, the Kamala Raheja Foundation, which maintains the garden on behalf of BMC, pulled down the structure amidst protests from several residents and activists, who said they should have been consulted. At that time, BMC had promised a new aeroplane for the park.
Now, the new ‘Boeing’, worth around Rs 30 lakh, is set to arrive in six months. A high-ranking the BMC official said, “The designs have been approved, and the structure is being readied. The plane will be made of cement concrete, and will be a better version of the earlier structure.”
24/01/13 Chaitanya Marpakwar/Mumbai Mirror
