Justice FI Rebello and justice JH Bhatia of the Bombay high court conducted an inspection of Wankhede stadium on Thursday following a PIL filed by Amit Maru and Santosh Daundkar alleging violations of CRZ, environment and railway rules by Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) while renovating the stadium.
Officers from BMC and railways, representatives from the environment ministry and MCA as well as the petitioners were present during their visit.
The railway engineer pointed out to the judges that the MCA did not have a no objection certificate (NOC) to dig within 30 metres at the east-end. But the association countered the argument saying that the issue was pending with the railway board. The court-appointed architect, however, said that the BMC engineer’s drawing was not as per the scale.
Keen on safety of the people, the court asked questions on the ingress and egress at the east side and the preparations in cases of emergencies like fire.
The MCA responded by saying that the bridge over the tracks on the east side would be used and adequate measures were taken for fire safety. When prodded on the access to fire tankers, the association said that they would come from the main gate, which the petitioners felt was not possible as a 45-tonne tanker would sink in the ground. Petitioners even objected to the bridge being an escape route because it did not fit into the specifications of the building code.
The judges said that they had come for an inspection and they would argue all this in the court. The petitioners were told that they could amend their PIL if they wanted to as per the new alleged violations.
YP Singh, counsel for the petitioners, said, “The matter is subjudice and nothing more can be said other than what is in the petition. The judges wanted to inspect the place and see it for
themselves the alleged violations.”
Officials from MCA refused to comment.
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