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Journalism of Courage
Soon after a boat overturned in Harni Lake of Vadodara on Thursday evening, killing at least 14, including 12 children, the state home department ordered an inquiry headed by the Vadodara District Magistrate. The inquiry report, which has to be submitted within 10 days, will also reveal if there was negligence or carelessness on the part of the local administration, contractor, or anybody else. The boat, which capsized during a school picnic, had the capacity to carry 16 passengers but it had 34 occupants at the time of the incident.
As per the details shared by sources in the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC), the developer — M/s Kotia Projects — that was awarded the contract for the redevelopment of the Harni Motnath Lake in 2016 was initially disqualified by the civic body in 2015. The firm, primarily operating in the food sector, had no prior experience with such leisure infrastructure projects, as per people aware of the details.
Paresh Shah, the promoter of the firm, is among the five people booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, attempt to culpable homicide, and negligence. Shah is yet to be traced. Congress’s Ami Ravat, Opposition leader in VMC, who had demanded a vigilance inquiry against the project in 2016, said, “The work of development of ponds on PPP model was put forth in (VMC’s) General Board on February 20, 2016, and 14 out of 76 councillors had voted against development of ponds on PPP basis… instead to be developed by the municipal corporation. The same was not approved by way of majority vote although the discussion is mentioned in the minutes of the meeting.”
On September 12, 2016, the work of redevelopment of Harni Lake on a PPP basis was approved to be given to M/S Kotia Projects at the VMC’s General Board meeting. The scope of the PPP tender involved giving away 5,686 sq m of land, worth approximately Rs 17 crore at a rent of one rupee for 30 years. The developer was to spend Rs 5.4 crores on the development of the pond.
“Considering the rates submitted against usage of various facilities, an average visitor will spend Rs 500 per day, and considering 200 visitors a day, the average income per day will be Rs 1,00,000 and annual income will be Rs 3.65 crores. In addition, other income source for the developer or contractor will be the rent of the exhibition hall and auditorium. The contractor will thus recover their entire cost just in the first one or two years. On the other hand, the corporation will get Rs 3 lakh per annum and the facilities developed by the contractor will barely have any scrap value after 30 years,” Ravat said. According to a Smart Cities Mission update from May 2019, issued by the National Institute of Urban Affairs, the Harni Motnath Lake, along with the adjoining area, was developed as a green lake, spread over an area of 55,164 sq m for Rs 7.5 crore. The developer had also set up “food courts, party hall, boating for entertainment and amenities like a toy train, and zip line for kids,” the NIUA report notes.
VMC Chief City Engineer Alpesh Majmundar did not respond to calls and text messages as a response was sought in this regard.
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