Mira Bhayandar: Even as the new timetable for the much-hyped inaugural edition of the 'No Honking Twenty-20 Cricket Series' remains undecided, Shiv Sena legislator Pratap Sarnaik has dropped a bombshell by asking the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) to recover the ground rent and also register a case of fraud against the organisers.
Promoted by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, and the Ministry of Information & Technology and Youth Affairs, the Road Safety World Series (RSWS) was expected to witness clashes between legends from three countries, including India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, to underscore the importance of road safety and address the critical issue of noise pollution, which remains a significant concern in the country.
FPJ
FPJ
Already rescheduled once, timetable of the tourney undecided yet
The tournament was initially scheduled to begin at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Municipal Stadium in Bhayandar on September 17 but was later postponed to the second week of October due to adverse weather conditions prevailing in the city, compounded by forecasts of heavy rainfall. However, the timetable for the tourney continues to be undecided, as the lone stadium in Bhayandar has remained engaged for the past more than six months, leaving no space for sportspeople and children to play. Maintaining a stand that the venue for the tournament would give a new identity to the twin-city on the international platform, supported by the noble cause of limiting the number of on-road casualties and sensitising citizens to the urgent need for a safer environment on Indian roads, the civic administration had offered the stadium free of cost to the organisers.
"Despite being a legislator myself, I have been diligently paying the rent for the municipal ground for Navratri festivities. Keeping the lone stadium engaged for more than six months with no signs of the series is a gross injustice to local citizens. If the MBMC fails to recover the ground rent or does not act against the organisers, I will be left with no other option but to take up the matter with the state government authorities," charged Sarnaik.
Notably, the organisers of the sporting event had made an announcement regarding the postponement at a function held on September 17 in the presence of municipal commissioner Sanjay Katkar, Regional Transport Office (RTO-Konkan) chief Ravi Gaikwad, and cricketing legends like Sanath Jayasuriya, Stuart Binny, and Naman Ojha. All eyes are now on the civic administration to see whether the process to recover the ground rent is initiated against the organisers.
