Bombay Gymkhana

BMC

club

cricket

‘Shamed activists’ objected to encroachment in Vile Parle Civic body yet to act on illegal structures despite orders from Lokayukta, ex-BMC chief; K(West) ward assistant engineer says matter “sub-judice”.

The CEO’s bungalow that Bombay Gymkhana so desperately wants to save.; Pic: SACHIN HARALKAR

Arthur road jail could face bomb, vehicle attacks, say senior cops A three-member committee headed by Joint CP Deven Bharati tells state government that a slum bordering the jail is a massive danger

The two-year standoff between theand thecould see a closure, with the south Mumbaiagreeing to the civic body’s demand of giving up land for road-widening. The club’s only condition: do not touch the bungalow on its premises, which is occupied by its CEO.The Bombay Gymkhana has been insisting that it will not part with even an inch of its land after the BMC declared in 2016 that it will take back 3,000 square metres of gymkhana land, including the CEO’s bungalow, for widening of the Hazarimal Somani Marg, which connects Fashion Street to CSMT. The gymkhana said the bungalow was a Grade II Heritage structure, a claim denied by the BMC.Mumbai Mirror was the first newspaper to report on the Bombay Gymkhana-BMC tussle, when Shiv Sena leader Ganesh Sanap wrote to the civic body demanding the sprawling ground that the gymkhana uses to hostand rugby games be thrown open to public (‘BMC cuts Bombay Gymkhana to size’, MM, July 12, 2016).The club members and management blamed the civic body’s action on the club’s decision to not extend ordinary membership to bureaucrats (‘Bombay Gymkhana a tad too elite to let babus in’, MM, June 15, 2016).Two years down the line, the club management has written to the BMC, requesting it to modify the Development Plan 2034 to spare the CEO’s bungalow, a fitness centre, and a swimming pool. “We received a letter from the Bombay Gymkhana management saying the club’s CEO’s bungalow be saved. The club has said that the pedestrian movement is towards CSMT and towards Churchgate,” a senior BMC official said.As per the BMC plan, Hazarimal Somani Marg’s width will be increased from 50 ft to 60 ft, and the five-ft wide walkway will be turned into a 20-ft wide walkway.The Bombay Gymkhana offer is the last-ditch effort by the club’s management to save the bungalow, after City Collector Shivaji Jondhale said the new lease agreement will not include portions that are marked to be taken back for road-widening. The lease for the club expired in 2006 and the one for the ground lapsed in 2007.Accordingly, the new lease agreement did not include 1,111sq ft of the bungalow, 2,417 sq ft of the club’s fitness centre, 143 sq ft of the tennis courts and 43 sq ft of the swimming pool. “The club management’s letter will be forwarded to the deputy director of town planning as part of the suggestions/objections to DP 2034,” the official said.Jondhale said that he had scheduled a meeting with the club officials, but they sought more time. “We have given them time after they requested. As things stand, we will renew the lease as per the new DP post hearing and exclude portions marked out for road-widening,” he said.The club has already lost parking space on the footpath which it used for over a decade. It has now purchased parking on MG Road from the BMC, paying Rs 24 lakh every six months under the street pay-and-park scheme.A senior member of the Bombay Gymkhana said the club had no option but to compromise. “The BMC officials and the collector are refusing to budge. We are now hoping to at least save the bungalow and parts of the land. This can be done if the DP is modified. The suggestions/objections for that are still on and the town planning department can modify the DP,” the member said.BMC chief Ajoy Mehta was not available for comment while Bombay Gymkhana CEO RN Ranjan refused to speak on the matter. The club’s president, Vijay Rai, said he will speak on the matter but didn’t respond to subsequent calls and messages.