Sports may lose chembur home

Three decade-old Chembur Krida Kendra that has produced champions in Indian sports has been issued an eviction notice by the state

Sports may lose chembur home

Three decade-old Chembur Krida Kendra that has produced champions in Indian sports has been issued an eviction notice by the state

Theu00a0delirium over the Indian cricket team's World Cup victory may not have subsided, but a 33 year-old sports academy's fight for survival, despite its meritorious legacy, proves that the city has little value for sports other than cricket.

This year's Shiv Chhatrapati Sports awardees Rajashree Pawar
and Rebecca Paul Gaware at the soon-to-shut Chembur Krida
Kendra. Pic/ Pradeep Dhivar

The Chembur Krida Kendra (CKK), founded by sportsmen with a meritorious record of winning over 2,000 state and national titles, has produced several international players, two of whom even won the prestigious Chhatrapati Award last week. But that is not enough for the state government, which has sent an eviction notice to the Kendra on the basis of an application by a private trust identified as Bharatiya Adhyatmik Society (BAS).

BAS wants the 1,000 sq ft piece of land to perform 'religious rituals for living and dead'. Sportsmen attached with the Kendra are now running from pillar to post to save the centre. The academy has been promoting Indian sports like Kho Kho and Kabaddi for several years and conducts training camps in schools and colleges in the suburbs.

CKK has also received grants from the Ministry of Sports and the Cultural Affairs Department. Clean land records The office of Suburban Collector of Mumbai had an agreement with Chembur Krida Kendra in 1987 to build a gymnasium on the plot at Postal colony in Chembur. According to Suhas Kadam, CKK founder and secretary, "Our sports academy has been in possession of the said plot since then. We have been renewing the agreement every five years. The last agreement expired in 2009. But it was a rude shock when we received a notice on January 26, 2011, about our contract being terminated. We were given one month to vacate the place, by February 27."

When CKK officials approached the office of the suburban collector and Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority (MHADA), they were surprised to see an order dated February 3, 2009 issued by the Upper secretary, Revenue and Forest department.

When asked, Revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat professed ignorance about the termination of the agreement by his office, "Since the decision was taken by my predecessor, I will have to seek more information before commenting on it. A decision will be taken depending on the merits of the case."

Members claim that CKK has protected the plot against encroachments by slum dwellers in the locality for last 33 years. If evicted, more than 2,000 prestigious trophies housed in CKK's will have no place to call home. CKK has been following all norms set by the agreement, verified via documents in possession of SMD.

And the fight for survival has dealt a blow to kids wanting to learn Indian sports: there will be no CKK summer camps for school and college students as members are busy fighting for survival.

Nirmalkumar Deshmukh, Collector (Suburbs) said, "We have received the application from Chembur Krida Kendra. I will personally look into the matter. We will ensure that justice is meted out to these talented sportsmen."

Achievements of CKK
28 players have represented the Maharashtra Kabaddi team at the sub junior, junior and senior level Eight players played national level Kabaddi tournamentsu00a0

Rajashree Pawar (25), who has led the state Kabaddi team at the nationals five times and Rebecca Paul Gaware (26), who has played at the Asiad games, received the state's top sports award, the Shiv Chhatrapati Award, this year