BMC remains mum on lease expiry
The lease for Mumbai?s Mahalaxmi racecourse expired on Friday. However, with no word from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), it seems like the iconic racetrack will stay where it is, for now.
The Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) that runs the racecourse has neither received a termination notice nor any intimation from the civic authority regarding the renewal of its lease, said racecourse officials. In the absence of any fresh communication, officials say it will be business as usual.
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Officials also feel that since no fresh plans for the area have emerged so far, the matter may soon die down. ?In the past too, when we had applied for licence renewal, it took almost 10 years for the BMC to come to a decision and finally the lease was renewed,? Khushroo N Dhunjibhoy, chairman, Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) told FE. ?The racing calendar and the events to be organised will stay as scheduled,? he added.
Municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte remained non-committal on the issue. ?There are still 8 hours left,? he said. ?We will cross the bridge when it comes. But it is not an unusual situation because in other such heritage-grade properties, people keep using the property till a decision is made on the renewal of the lease,? Kunte said.
He added that a proposal regarding the lease renewal has already been sent to the state government for a decision by the BJP corporator Yashodhar Phanse.
?He has highlighted a number of alleged violations being committed by RWITC on the land, so the state government has to consider the matter. We will take a decision jointly with the state government,? Kunte said.
The lease of the racecourse expired in 1994 as well, it was finally renewed only in 2004, he added.
Built in 1883 on land donated by Sir Cusrow N Wadia, the Mahalaxmi racecourse got into controversy over its lease renewal. Of the racecourse?s 8.54-lakh square metre land, BMC owns 2.54 lakh square metres, while the rest is scheduled land and belongs to the state government.
The controversy erupted earlier this month when Shiv Sena corporator and city mayor Sunil Prabhu wrote a letter to BMC commissioner Sitaram Kunte, asking that the lease for the racecourse not be renewed. Instead, he suggested that an international theme park be constructed on the space, which got consent from corporators across party lines.
(With inputs from Alison Saldanha of The Indian
Express)