Mahalaxmi racecourse land to be handed over to BMC to set up theme park
Members of Royal Western India Turf Club vote in favour of proposal
5 min read
The BMC had proposed that out of the 211 acres, nearly 120 acres shall be acquired by the authorities while the remaining 91 acres will stay with the RWITC (Express File Photo)Mumbai’s largest green spot is soon to be transformed into a theme park as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s proposal for transforming the existing Mahalaxmi Racecourse received a nod from the members of the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) on Tuesday, following a two-day voting session of the RWITC club members. Of the 708 members who cast their votes, 540 voted in support of BMC’s proposal while 168 members voted against it.
The RWITC is the parent body of the racecourse, which is spread across 211 acres in Mahalaxmi, making it one of the largest green open spaces in the space-starved financial capital of the country. The land is jointly owned by the BMC and state government and has been leased out to the RWITC since 1914. The last lease agreement had expired in 2013, and for more than a decade now, the lease was not renewed by the authorities, even though the racecourse continued to exist. However, in January this year, the civic authorities had proposed that the lease of this land would be renewed only after the major portion of this land parcel is acquired solely by the authorities.
The BMC had proposed that out of the 211 acres, nearly 120 acres shall be acquired by the authorities while the remaining 91 acres will stay with the RWITC. Suresh Sanas, who is the current chairman of RWITC, told Express that race tracks, helipad, grandstand, which is a Grade II – B heritage structure and some of the horse stables will stay under the 91-acre portion which will stay with the racecourse.
While the remaining 120-acre plot will house the jogging tracks, some of the stables, the parking area and portion of the lawn.
Municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal on January 18 gave a presentation to the members tabling his proposal of creating the theme park, when he had also said that no civil construction would be taken up in the plot which the BMC is set to take back from the authorities. He also maintained that the primary objective of setting up a park is to ensure that the land parcel becomes universally accessible.
As a result, the RWITC management called for open voting of members in order to support or reject the civic authority’s proposal. Total 708 members voted, out of which 540 members voted in support of BMC’s proposal while 168 members voted against the proposal.
“The primary motive behind members’ voting in favour of the BMC’s proposal is to ensure that the existing lease gets renewed. There are some old structures present inside the compound which we are planning to redevelop into a clubhouse. Also, when the lease gets renewed, we may be able to get FSI benefits that may allow us to carry out renovated works which are pending for a while,” Sanas told Express on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, members also said the BMC hasn’t proposed any blueprint of the project which they want to execute at the grounds. “The voting was based on minutes of the meeting in which the municipal commissioner was present. However, there is no proper presentation that was shown to us. It appears that several aspects about the project are yet to be finalised,” said Vivek Jain, former chairperson of RWITC and a member.
The first lease agreement was made between the civic body and RWITC management for a 30-year-old tenure, which was renewed in 1964 for another 30 years. Later in 1994, the lease was again renewed for a period of 19 years, which got over in May, 2013, following which the agreement was not renewed.
The 1994 agreement was signed under the condition that the RWITC had to pay BMC an annual rent of Rs 19 lakh, with additional increment of Rs 2 lakh being imposed annually and the last paid rent by the racecourse management in 2013 was Rs 56 lakh. However, civic officials said that since the lease period got over and the management continued to enjoy benefits of the property without vacating the premises, additional arrears worth Rs 6 crore was recovered from them last year.
The RWITC had applied for renewing their lease. However, the state government had not been able to take any decision.
Meanwhile, the BMC had also not charged any rent from the plot between 2013 and 2023 and civic officials said that if the body charges rent, then it will set a perception that the BMC is ready to extend the lease.
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