3rd of a series of expose
By:Saumit Singh
Apart from the clear CRZ, lease agreement, FSI and Green Zone violations, the Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium also goes against ULCRA rules. JR Jondhale, the then additional collector with Urban Land Ceiling Department had even written to the BMC in 2007 demanding that the construction of the indoor stadium be stopped. “The project should be stopped because the stadium is coming up on land declared surplus under the Urban Land Ceiling Regulation Act (ULCRA). It is meant for public use,” Jondhale had written. But apparently BMC paid no heed.
For years, vested interests had been plotting to monetise the huge stadium land. In the summer of 1994, BC Chawla, who was an office bearer even then, was in talks with the Hinduja group to sub let the stadium. Copies of the correspondence between Chawla and Hinduja company Indusind enterprises detail how they proposed a 25 year lease for the stadium and club building for a spend of Rs 100 crore.
The move was scuttled after it came to public attention. In a strongly worded letter, the secretary of the Delhi chapter of NSCI, KN Jasoria wrote to Chawla in October, 1994: “Surprised such illegal action being taken without the prior permission of the executive committee. You along with Bombay regional committee are restrained from taking any action or any dialogue with the Hindujas regarding stadium or any other land of the club.” Ironically in 2010, BC Chawla, as President of the Mumbai chapter of NSCI, is presiding over the “redevelopment” of the Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium.
The whole project was kick started in 2003 by Chawla and fellow office bearers without so much as a project report or a consultation with the general body. “No member had an idea of what was actually being planned till they performed a bhoomi pujan in April 2003,” said a veteran NSCI member.
More importantly, the permission for tampering with the structure was taken from the BMC under section that deals with reconstruction of dilapidated structures with no provision for alterations. The BMC issued a commencement certificate – which is in the possession of Mumbai Mirror – for “reconstruction of existing Vallabhbhai Stadium”. But the NSCI went ahead and demolished the structure and built a completely new one without any permission or clearances.
How the reconstruction of the open air stadium suddenly turned into a project to build an air-conditioned indoor stadium with 16 halls and a basement parking is something no one seems to know – and no one has even questioned it till now.
The project was handed over by NSCI to one Raj Peshori, who in turn hired the services of Shashi Prabhu and Associates, known for developing stadiums. Peshori, who had even accommodated his college going daughter in a section of the project, was subsequently removed in 2007 after the Mumbai High Court observed that he himself had had no prior experience in handling such a project.
In 2007, the current chairman Bipin Mehta and three other members of the executive committee wrote to BC Chawla saying that “to their knowledge, Shashi Prabhu and Associates were never appointed by the club”. But it was all drowned in the din of the many other allegations.
Ever since the project took off in 2003, the managing committee itself found itself fighting corruption charges. Jaisingh Choraria, the treasurer, actually filed a police complaint against BC Chawla and three other office bearers alleging forgery, cheating, criminal breach of trust and conspiracy that deprived the NSCI of crores of rupees.
However, they soon “amicably” made up with each other. Choradia was declared a hostile witness when he told the court that he ‘could not remember’ the contents of his complaint and claimed that it was all a ‘misunderstanding’. Chawla and others were acquitted. Choraria is today the Secretary of the NSCI.
