BMC chandelier gets the boot over crash fears

Within days of the standing committee chairman raising concern over the chandelier hanging above his head, the civic administration removed it

The crashing of a toughened glass panel at the Works Committee meeting hall in the heritage structure of the BMC definitely toughened Standing Committee chairman Yashwant Jadhav's resolution to get the chandelier hanging above his head in the same room removed. Within days of him raising the concern and saying that he would have to wear a helmet to meetings, the piece of décor left the room.

Shiv Sena corporator and chairperson of the committee Priti Patankar was conducting a meeting with 15 other corporators on December 19 when the incident took place. Three of the officials, including Patankar suffered minor bruises. However, the BMC is yet to decide on changing the glass panel, as they are in the process of collecting evidence and information on whether a temperature variation led to the glass cracking, to be submitted to the enquiry official.

Taking a dig at the administration for their apathy, in the last meeting Jadhav had said that if the chandelier was not removed he would have to wear a helmet to meetings. He had asked the civic administration to remove it. To everyone's surprise, the chandelier was removed before the meeting on Friday. A civic official said, "The way the other chandeliers in the room are placed, if they fall no one will be hurt. They lend an aesthetic charm."

BMC officials said that the toughened glass panel cracked due to temperature variation and the incident was not a lapse on part of the contractor or consultant. A senior civic official said, "As the glass panel was near the roof of the structure, it came crashing down. But as the glass was a toughened one, it immediately broke into pieces and caused no major injury."

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