With no relief from BMC, Dino Morea packs off open gyms

After failing to get a reprieve from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), actor Dino Morea finally on Friday removed the two open-air gymnasiums that he had installed at the Marine Drive promenade. The civic body had asked him to remove the gyms by January 31.

However, the incident has sparked off a sharp reaction from the Yuva Sena chief Aditya Thackeray, who had inaugurated the gym in the month of July last year. In an apparent dig at the BJP and the municipal commissioner, he said that the opposition to the gym was politically motivated and further asked whether now the yoga sessions at the Marine Drive would also be stopped or not.

Making his displeasure known on the social media, the Thackeray scion took a jibe at the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC). He stated that the committee has no conservation architect or historian and it had suddenly woken up to revoke the permission earlier given to the open-air gym.

Aditya, in his comments, also took a dig at the BJP MLA Raj Purohit who raised objection to the gym. “To the Hon’ble MLA from Colaba who finds working out in shorts obscene We are in 2016! Most of us do work out or even roam around in shorts. It’s normal, not obscene.” he tweeted.

“The equipments have been removed from the Marine Drive promenade. As per our information, one of the equipments has been relocated to Parel,” said a senior civic official.