The Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation is scheduled to inaugurate its long-delayed sports complex on 3 October despite unfinished field works, missing basic facilities and project costs rising from Rs 43 crore to Rs 68 crore, according to a report by Loksatta – Vasai-Virar.
The complex in Vasai has been under development for eight years. The municipal corporation conducted the foundation stone ceremony in November 2017 and construction began in 2018. The contract for the project was awarded to N.A. Construction at an initial cost of Rs 43 crore.
The inauguration is being held on the occasion of Bahujan Vikas Aghadi president Hitendra Thakur’s birthday. However, work at the site has not been completed. The field remains unfinished and requires filling and the construction of a track, work that is expected to take another two to three months.
The complex also does not yet have a lift and several basic amenities have not been provided. Sports equipment inside the building is still awaiting installation, according to the report. Work has reportedly been accelerated ahead of the inauguration, with efforts under way to complete parts of the facility in haste.
The municipal corporation’s building department executive engineer, Pradeep Pachange, said the building work had been completed. He said the remaining work would be completed by the end of December. Pachange attributed the increase in the project cost to changes in the building’s internal structure and the Goods and Services Tax.
The cost escalation means the project has become approximately Rs 25 crore more expensive than its original contract value. The report attributes the delay to administrative processes, while the municipal corporation has also cited the coronavirus period and administrative rule as factors that affected some development works.
The sports complex was proposed in response to a long-standing demand from residents and athletes in Vasai-Virar. Local players have had to depend on grounds in Mumbai for practice because the city lacked a fully equipped sports facility, according to the report. The incomplete field and pending amenities therefore mean that the complex may be inaugurated before all of its intended sporting functions are operational.
Municipal mayor Ajiv Patil said the corporation was prioritising facilities required by residents after the elected administration returned to power. He described the sports complex and an auditorium as concepts associated with former legislator Hitendra Thakur and Kshitij Thakur, and said the projects had been accelerated towards completion.
Patil also said invitations had been sent to all concerned people with due respect and denied that there was any dispute over the inauguration. He said he had spoken to the members and that the administration was supporting the event.
The municipal corporation’s stated timeline places completion of the remaining sports complex works by the end of December. Until then, the facility’s operational readiness will depend on the completion of the field, track, lift, basic amenities and installation of sports equipment.
