Marathon organiser owes Rs 1.3 cr to Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation

MUMBAI: Procam International, which has been organising marathon events, is yet to clear outstanding dues of Rs 1.3 crore to the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, a top civic official said on Tuesday.
The company has been organising marathon for the last six years with sponsorships from Corporate and NGOs, but yet to pay Rs 1.3 crore for expenditure incurred for 2009 Marathon, the official said.
"Procam representatives came to meet senior civic officials for this matter today. But things will be clear in a day or two, as to whether the organisers are paying their dues or not," civic sources said,
MCGM has asked the company to clear their dues at the earliest or else it will not provide any civic amenities this time.
The next marathon is scheduled for January 17 which starts and ends at CST.
To boost the civic school students, MCGM has footed Rs 1.5 lakh for 500 students of municipal schools, who will for the first time to participate in the marathon.
"We have paid Rs 1.5 lakh for nearly 500 students, who are studying in MCGM schools, as a participation fee for the Marathon. We want our students also to become part of this popular event and as they are unable to shell out money for this so we planned to pay for them this time," a civic official said.
"The firm makes good money by way of advertisements and promotions for the event so they are in a position to pay us," the official said.
Along the 42.1 km stretch, that usually sees thousands of runners, the civic body makes arrangements like road resurfacing, painting dividers, marking lanes and cleaning roads, providing ambulances, toilets and cleans the roads post event.
Corporators, who are of the view that marathon only benefits sponsors and not the MCGM, have asked the civic body to take strict action against the organisers.