Pune News : Four year struggle ends, PMC removes hoardings around Maharshi Dhondo Karve statue in Kothrud

In a significant development, illegal hoardings that were an obstacle to the statue of Maharishi Dhondo Keshav Karve, the renowned educator who dedicated his life to the education of women, were finally removed on April 17, just ahead of his birth anniversary.

The action was taken when the news of the hoarding spread like wild fire and activists criticised the Pune Municipal Corporation forcing them to take action. The issue was raised by a local citizen Manisha Paranjape in 2019 who fought with PMC and the battle continued for four years. Paranjape held a signature drive too in the past to draw PMC’s attention to the issue. In the recently held meeting with PMC Commissioner Vikram Kumar, former MLA Medha Kulkarni also accompanied Manisha Paranjape. The statue of Maharshi Dhondo Keshav Karve is the only statue in the city.

“This action is being hailed as a positive step towards preserving the legacy of Maharshi Dhondo Keshav Karve and upholding his contributions towards women’s education. It is hoped that such illegal encroachments on public spaces will be strictly dealt with in the future to ensure the preservation of important heritage and cultural landmarks,” said Medha Kulkarni, former MLA Kothrud constituency.

“We also conducted a site visit and instructed to remove the hoardings,” said a PMC official from Warje – Karve nagar ward office.  

Bharatratna Maharshi Dhondo Keshav Karve was born on 18 April 1858.