Bandra Reclamation

Rangasharda Auditorium

sports amenities

walking and jogging tracks

MHADA

The ground when it was illegally used as a dumping ground

NGO

Mumbai's first athletic club to be opened in June; revamp of 7-acre land underway 01:10

The construction of tracks is underway. The facility will be open to the public at a nominal rate

A 7-acre open space inwill soon bear testimony that a neglected land can be revived for public use. The ground nearis being turned into the city’s first public athletics hub, and is likely to be thrown open next month.The facility, which will boast of national-level track and fieldand a garden, is being constructed using state government funds at a cost of Rs 11 crore.Officials said the land was a reserved recreation ground but lay abandoned allegedly for 40 years. It turned into a battleground—with residents andauthorities sparring over its poor state, illegal encroachments and dumping of construction debris, and its commercial exploitation. Officials said following a Bombay High Court order in 2017, commercial activities were barred at the ground.“We are transforming an abandoned encroached ground into a national-level sports facility. It will also have space for traditional Indian sports like malkhamb and kabaddi, as well as track and field events like discus and javelin throws. Work is going on in full swing. The facility will open shortly,” said Ashish Shelar, the local BLP MLA who pushed for the land revival project and secured funds from the District Planning and Development Council. “Work is going on in full swing.”Shelar said that as part of the revamp, the ground was levelled and dozens of trucks of debris removed. “The sports facility will also have a toilet and a changing room for athletes. We are laying storm water drains to make sure that there is no flooding in the monsoon. It took a lot of effort to get some encroachments from the adjacent slum pocket removed.”MHADA authorities said once the sports facility is ready, they will appoint a localor sports organisation to operate and maintain the ground. “The fees for using the facility will be nominal and it will be open to all residents of the city. The use and operation will be governed by MHADA,” said an official.Locals have welcomed the ground’s transformation. Vidya Vaidya of the Bandra Reclamation Area Volunteers Organisation said the ground should remain a usable open space for residents. “This is a welcome move. This was an open space that was lying in neglect for over 40 years. It was totally misused and had turned into a debris dumping site. This should be accessible to all residents for leisure and sports,” she said.Last year, the ground was embroiled in a controversy after MHADA issued permission to a circus to perform on the premises. The approval was revoked after residents complained that the circus would hit the ground’s revamp. In May last year, a group of citizens, along with Shelar, held a huge dharna outside the MHADA office to protest the dumping of garbage on the ground.