Dino Morea's 'illegal' open-air gym at Marine Drive taken down

The open air gyms at Marine Drive owned by Bollywood actor Dino Morea's DM Fitness, which were pulled down by the BMC's local ward office one day after Yuva Sena chief Aditya Thackeray inaugurated them, were finally taken down on Friday after a high-powered committee ruled against them.

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The actor has agreed to pull down the gym without requesting for an extension.

Jacqueline Fernandez flexes as Aaditya Thackeray and Dino Morea do some pull-ups at the inauguration of the special open-air gym at Marine Drive in July 2015. File Pic

The removable gym equipment was first inaugurated by actor Jacqueline Fernandez and Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray in July. But it immediately courted controversy after tremendous opposition from political parties who demanded to know how Morea was allowed to install equipment at the heritage precinct when they hadn't been allowed to.

However, later a period of three months was given as a trial period for the gym. During this time, a three-member committee was set up to decide upon its feasibility, which included BMC chief Ajoy Mehta, Police Commissioner Ahmad Javed and Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) chairman Ramanath Jha. The committee ruled against the gym.

A notice was earlier sent in December, post the extension given to the gym while the BMC came up with alternate locations for the installations. The notice that was sent out on Saturday last week suggested relocating the gym to either the Bhatia hospital area or the Cooperage ground. However, Morea has decided to remove them from Marine drive first.

Meanwhile, Aaditya Thackeray took to social media to express his discontent regarding this issue stating that the opposition to the open air gym was 'politically motivated' and that he respects Dino Morea's sentiments.