Citizens denied facilities at Thane club, move court

THANE: Citizens upset at the denial of recreation facilities in a Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) owned club have filed a PIL in the high court against the civic administration and the private contractor appointed by the TMC to run the civic amenity near the Raheja complex here.
The club which has been built on tax payers money on a reserved TMC plot has now been leased to a hospitality firm which is said to be associated with a former Mumbai encounter specialist who is aspiring to be a politician.
The club has range of facilities including a Olympic size indoor swimming pool, squash and badminton courts, gymnasium and huge space for a cafeteria. The recreation centre was built to provide CCI like facilities to the common Thankears’ at hugely concessional rates.
However, the TMC headed by the Shiv Sena and the BJP “gifted” the facility to a private firm to run the show for couple of years and allowing them the freedom to levy the “hefty” charges for the services.
Residents who were for years paying Rs 6,500 for the pool and other recreation facilities were suddenly asked to shell out Rs 80,000 for the annual club membership.
Irked with nearly ten fold hike in the services, a group of swimmers collectively led one A Sawant moved the high court against the arbitrary hike.
Besides challenging exorbitant hike in the membership fee the petitioner has raised question over the administrative procedure followed by the civic body for allowing a private firm to go ahead with the “excessive” rise in membership fee for the club services.
The petition is scheduled to come up for hearing next month.