19 June,2011 07:54 AM IST | | Rinkita Gurav
The Mumbai Hockey Association's (MHA) office at D Road, which houses a stadium, and is located adjacent to the Wankhede Stadium, has fallen foul of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)
After it was found that the MHA officials had built a carriageway outside their gate to help vehicles enter and exit the premises, and that the construction was blocking a gutter hole and flooding the adjacent road, BMC officials on June 8 razed the construction.
The officials have also slapped a notice against the MHA asking them to stop constructing a drainage line that was being built inside their premises. It was feared that once complete, the drain would cause major flooding of the road outside.
The gate for which the carriageway was built is in itself a recent construct. The MHA had broken down their boundary wall beside the Polly Umrigar Gate at Wankhede Stadium to build the gate.
Confirming the action taken, a BMC official from the A ward said, "The MHA had blocked the gutter hole. Water in the drain was stagnating and breeding mosquitoes." The official further informed that the MHA was also digging up a new drainage line inside their premises.
A resident of D Road said, on condition of anonymity, "In the process of constructing a new drainage system, they dug a huge trench, which exposed the roots of two old trees. Because of this, the trees have loosened up and can fall because of the rain."
However, the spokesperson of MHA, Joquim Carvalho, chose not to comment on whether or not the BMC had taken any action against them. A committee member of the MHA, Ram Singh Rathore said, "The hockey stadium requires 20,000 litres of water to be sprinkled on it before any match. The drainage system being built was to remove this water and not sewage. We have not constructed anything illegal."
