Agriculture College did not inform movie crew about its grade-I heritage status

College in dock over allegations that it allowed the crew to make changes in college structure which is not permissible

It has come to light that the College of Agriculture in Shivajinagar which recently allowed a Marathi movie crew to shoot on the campus did not inform the crew in advance about the historical importance of the structure.

The College is already in the dock over allegations of allowing the crew to make changes in the structure of the building which was declared Grade-I heritage structure by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in 2010. The authorities apparently allowed colouring and other changes in the structure after seeking written permission, even if there is no such scope for changes in heritage-I building.

A notice served to the crew of Marathi movie recently, which is in possession of Newsline, reveals that the college authorities had merely informed people concerned that the college structure is "a historical building, without mentioning its actual grading, and written permission is needed to undertake colouring and other change."

Reacting to the issue of giving a vague instruction, Dr A G Chandele, associate dean and principal of the College of Agriculture, admitted that the present text of the notice was inadequate and needs to be improvised. "The draft of the notice would be modified at the earliest so that the film crew would know well in advance about the historical importance of the college building and follow guidelines concerned religiously," he told Newsline on Monday. The building of the College of Agriculture is over 100 years old.

Meanwhile, the college authorities, after more than two week's time, have recently responded to a notice slapped by the Heritage Cell of the PMC early this month regarding film-shoot scars on the grade-I structure of the college building. Head of PMC Heritage Cell Shyaam Dhavalaey said the reply submitted by college would be judged in the light of laid down rules and regulations for preservation of a heritage structure. "The issue of protection of the building would be taken up for discussion during official meeting of the cell shortly," he said.

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