Sports dept finds VHA hockey ground unfit in June, now holds school hockey events there

A dispute over the Vidarbha Hockey Association (VHA) hockey ground on Amravati Road in Nagpur has taken a new turn. In a report submitted to the district administration in June, the district sports department had described the ground as unsuitable for play. The same department is now organising school hockey tournaments on it.

The change in stance within four months has raised questions about the intent behind the entire action. Sports circles are asking whether the shortcomings were used as a weapon to get the ground vacated by the VHA.

The VHA held the lease on the ground until 2037. Despite this, the district administration moved to terminate the lease early. The report of the then district sports officer, Pallavi Dhatrak, cited uneven ground, potholes, poor maintenance and a lack of basic facilities. Meanwhile, the Nazul department also issued a notice over possession of the ground.

The holding of school hockey events on the same ground has now sparked a debate over the credibility of the report and the basis of the action. The question being asked is on what basis the decision to hold tournaments there was taken if the ground was unfit for play. And if hockey can be played there, how accurate was the report that called it unsuitable?

The dispute is no longer limited to the lease and the land. With the action having advanced on the basis of the report and preparations now under way for sports activity on the same ground, there is growing talk of whether an attempt is being made to weaken the VHA and take control of the ground. Another question being raised is whether the then district sports officer was pressured into preparing the report.

Trilokinath Sidhra, administrator of the Vidarbha Hockey Association, has called the action to take possession of the ground politically motivated. He alleged that officials are being made to prepare reports under political pressure. He said that despite approaching Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over the matter, they received only assurances.

The association has also suffered a setback on the legal front. The Additional Divisional Commissioner dismissed an appeal filed under Section 247 of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966, and upheld the Collector's order. Under that order, the lease of 3.80 hectares of Nazul land was to be cancelled and the land taken into government possession.

Pallavi Dhatrak, the then district sports officer, said she had prepared the report on the basis of information obtained after an inspection by two officials. Shashikant Kalambe, the current in-charge district sports officer, said the report was not prepared during his tenure.

Krishna Joshi, coordinator of the Vidarbha Hockey Association, said the ground is perfectly fine. According to him, the permission of the district sports officer for the children's events was also given through the VHA. He said that after the appeal was dismissed by the Additional Divisional Commissioner on September 28, he wrote to the Additional Divisional Commissioner, the Collector and the tehsildar, requesting that no action be taken on the ground for now as the association still has time to file an appeal.