‘Unpaid dues’ to civic body may stall Jan Marathon

The city’s mega event ‘Mumbai Marathon’,which sees lakhs showing up to either participate or cheer the runners,may run into trouble in the coming year.

With just 19 days left for the event,the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has refused to carry out any preparatory work,as the organisers have refused to pay its bill for the last marathon.

The next marathon is scheduled for January 17,2010.

The BMC makes arrangements like road resurfacing,painting the dividers,lane marking,washing the route and providing ambulances along the 42.1-km stretch. It sets up disaster management chowkies,toilets and cleans the roads post-event.

However,this time the civic body,which is under pressure from corporators who say the marathon only benefits sponsors and not the BMC,has asked organisers Procam International to pay Rs 1.3 crore for expenditure incurred on the 2009 Marathon last January. “We have decided not to provide any civic amenities or carry out road work for the event. While we are supposed to maintain the roads all through the year,we specially repair and resurface the 42-km route just before the event,” said deputy municipal commissioner (Zone I) Dr Kishore Kshirsagar.

Last time,the BMC spent Rs 4.5 crore on special arrangements like road-resurfacing,painting dividers,marking lanes, and cleaning roads. “Despite repeated appeals and notices the organisers have not paid the money. They recently wrote to us that since the work done by BMC is civic work,they are not expected to pay the amount,” said a civic official.

The BMC,meanwhile,has also threatened not to grant permission for a stage outside CST station,a prize distribution ceremony at Azad Maidan and small mandaps where drinking water and other facilities are offered to participants along the route. “Unless the money for the earlier event is paid,no permission will be given. The organisers will also have to pay money for this year’s event if they want BMC to provide amenities,” Dr Kshirsagar said.

Procam International has been organising the event for the last six years,with sponsorships from several corporate houses and NGOs. The event starts and ends at CST.

While joint MDs of Procam,Vivek Singh and Anil Singh,were not available for comment,a spokesperson for the organisation refuted the BMC’s claims.

“The BMC doesn’t do anything particularly for the event,they do it because they are the civic body and it is their responsibility to fix the roads and maintain them. We hire facilities of mobile toilets from outside,” he said.

He added that talks were on with the BMC to sort out the issue of payment of money. “The Mumbai Marathon is a showcase event and portrays the city internationally. We haven’t paid the money yet but the issue will be cleared,” he said.

Marathon on sea-link

The traffic will be shut on the Bandra-Worli sea link for five hours during Mumbai marathon next month as participants will run along the link for the first time since its completion. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation has given its nod to include the sea-link in the marathon route. Traffic permissions are being obtained for the same.