Mumbai: BJP MLA from Bandra West, Ashish Shelar, has written to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray demanding that prime land allotted to cricketer Sunil Gavaskar at Bandra Reclamation be taken back.
Gavaskar was provided 2,000 square metre (sq.mt) of land to develop indoor cricket training academy in June 1988. "It's surprising that the said land is still lying vacant and no single work related to the proposed training academy has taken place in the last 30 years," said Shelar.
The land belongs to the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority and as per a state government order in 1988, the land was handed over to Gavaskar on lease basis.
Shelar explained that Gavaskar had communicated to state as many as four times — in 1999, 2002, 2004 & 2009 — seeking relaxation /concession in the lease agreement. However, the state government did not act on this.
"Probably for this reason, the cricketer too did not take any steps to protect or utilise the plot for the indented purpose. Now the land has become a target for encroachment, debris dumping and other nefarious activities and is posing a risk to the health and security of the nearby residents," Shelar said.
Interestingly, in June 2019, after Shelar reiterated his concern over the issue, MHADA had replied that the plot was given on a temporary basis for one year and will be allotted to former cricketer Lalchand Rajput for maintenance purpose at a cost of Rs 100 per square metre (Rs 2 lakh).
However, it asserted that the state government has been informed about the status of the land and until the government revokes its previous order, the land will continue to remain with Gavaskar.
Though FPJ tried to contact Gavaskar, it was told that he was travelling abroad and would be available for a comment after a fortnight only.
