No decision on racecourse yet

Thackeray met CM Prithviraj Chavan Sunday to demand development of a public garden,on the lines of Hyde Park in London, on racecourse land and shifting of horse racing to the outskirts of the city.

Hinting at a possible renewal of lease,municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte had told a press conference last week that the racecourse had a history of operating without licence renewal.

“In 1994,the lease of RWITC expired and was renewed by the state government only in 2004. In the interim,the racecourse was still there,” he said.

“This is not an unusual situation,there are many such scheduled properties under the state urban development department whose leases have expired but the lessees continue,” Kunte said.

BMC said it had submitted a report on the racecourse lease to the state government. The report contains several legal and technical aspects on the land discussed at a group leaders meeting earlier this month.

RWITC pays an annual rent of Rs 60 lakh for holding derbys at the racecourse for six months in a year.

In 2010,BMC issued a notice to RWITC accusing it of sub-letting part of the land without permission. Despite legal tussles,BMC recently renewed the RWITC licence to serve food and drinks at eateries on the premise.

BMC owns 30 per cent (2.54 lakh square metres) of the 225-acre racecourse land,while the rest is scheduled land under the jurisdiction of the state urban development ministry.

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