'BMC should inspect all sports clubs built by Sena leaders'

Senior Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai today said the Mumbai civic body should inspect all sports clubs developed by his party leaders and take action if any kind of violations are found.
Desai, founder member of Prabodhan Sports Complex in suburban Goregaon, was speaking at a press conference to clarify his stand on Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) controversial open space policy.
Desai, who also held the post of Chief Secretary of Prabodhan Sports Complex between 1972-1977, said, "The institute had taken the plot to maintain it for 30 years after signing an agreement in 1991. The club has been following all terms and conditions put in place by the BMC."

"If BMC finds anything wrong in Prabodhan club, they can take back the plot any time. This is not a five-star club and it is not restricted only for members. There is no club membership, non-member citizens can walk in freely in the sports complex building," Desai added.
When asked about the objections against clubs built by Sena leaders, including Minister of State for Housing Ravindra Waikar's Matoshree Arts and Sports Club, Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar's Aarey Bhaskar Sports and Welfare Centre (Goregaon), among others, Desai said, "BMC should inspect all clubs and check whether they have violated norms or not. If they find any violation, then hear them out and take a suitable action."

Speaking on BMC's open spaces policy, Desai said it should be implemented in a proper manner.

"Institutes should not be allowed to charge from people. Also, if plots were not taken over by institutions, they would have been encroached by slums," he said.
The BMC scrapped the caretaker policy, which was in the eye of controversy due to misuse of open spaces.
During the Sena-BJP rule in the state between 1995-1999, several open plots under caretaker policy were allotted to the trusts affiliated to politicians.
BMC's newly-framed open spaces policy, which Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis called for a review, stated that henceforth, under the new policy, the civic body would allot city opens spaces only on adoption basis, which does not allow any construction on the plot.