As playgrounds are not available for children and youth in Thane owing to illegal constructions on all the plots, the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has decided to built a space to play sports under the flyover.
Sports enthusiasts, environmentalists and social organizations have repeatedly requested the municipal administration to remove the illegal constructions on the plot, but there was no response.
The space under the flyover is either used to store garbage or there is illegal parking. But now people can utilise for sports like badminton, tennis, volleyball, skating etc. These facilities will be available under the city's Teen Hath Naka, Nitin Company Junction, Cadbury Junction and Majivada Golden Dyes Naka flyovers.
For this, the Thane civic body had floated tenders. As no response was received, tenders were drawn again. An amount of INR 1.05 crore will be spent for this.
Starting the game under the flyover on the Eastern Express Highway will attract players other than school-college students.
There is traffic everywhere on the highway. In such a situation, there will be danger to the players coming here. People associated with social organizations have opposed it. The smoke emitted from the vehicles will also be dangerous for the players.
In view of the polluted air day by day, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is emphasizing on building an oxygen park in the city, but there is no improvement in the attitude of the municipal administration regarding the condition of the grounds. Thane Citizen Forum President Casbar Augustine has been fighting since 2018 for the demand to clear the encroachment on the land reserved for the playground of Little Flower School, Vartak Nagar, Sector-4 near Thane city and build a compound wall. He said that 104 grounds in the city are reserved for sports, but due to the inflexible attitude of the municipal corporation, illegal constructions have taken place on most of the grounds.
The Human Rights Commission had in June 2023 imposed a financial penalty of Rs 10,000 on the Municipal Commissioner for negligence in the matter of reserved space and failure to construct the compound wall. Despite this, the Municipal Corporation has not been able to remove the encroachment, nor has the compound wall been constructed.
Local residents and school children have often protested against the ground. The children also asked the Municipal Corporation to pay INR 15,375 deposited in the piggy bank for leveling the plot and building the compound wall, and the women demonstrated by playing cymbals.
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