Nagpur: Buckling under the pressure, Nagpur University (NU) finally gave nod for the much-delayed Vasantrao Naik auditorium that will come up at its land near Amravati Road, which is partly encroached.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is supposed to perform its bhoomipuja on July 1. Nagpur Metropolitan Region Development Authority (NMRDA), along with the district administration, are leaving no stone unturned to make it successful, NU officials said.
Although NU demanded a hall having capacity in excess of 2,500 and was ready to share half the burden, the district administration disregarded its claims and finalized plans for 1,500 capacity structure, which would hardly serve NU’s purpose of holding convocation and other important functions.
To add to its woes, NMRDA had also rejected NU’s demand to have control over the hall while making it clear that all rights, including its maintenance and security, would rest with it.
If this humiliation was not enough, the district authorities even floated tenders in this regard while keeping NU top brass in the dark. NU registrar Puran Meshram had vehemently opposed NMRDA’s plans stating that even the CM had assured about huge auditorium of about 3,000 seats when he laid the foundation stone for NU’s new administrative building coming up near the campus in September 2015.
NU vice-chancellor SP Kane recently granted nod to NMRDA’s proposal after initial reluctance. He confirmed that he received invitation for July 1 bhoomipuja function.
“It’s true that we wanted a bigger capacity auditorium which would serve our needs in the longer run. We had already made a provision of Rs10 crore in our budget in this regard and were ready to contribute more, up to Rs20 crore. Funds were never a problem for us. But since the district administration already made designs and floated tenders, there is no point in opposing it,” he told TOI.
He, however, said NU will get the hall on priority and wouldn’t need to pay a single penny for it. “We’ve principally agreed in this regard and will be formally inking it our MoU. Even maintenance and security will be their responsibility. We’re only providing our land. Removing encroachments too will be their responsibility now,” he said.
The VC added that even if encroachments were not removed immediately, the work of the proposed auditorium could still be started, as very less area was under illegal occupation. “Due to the auditorium, NU campus will get much-needed water supply line for its campus, which was our long pending demand. Moreover, NU will be getting the auditorium for its various functions at absolutely no cost. These are the conditions on which we granted our no-objection certificate (NOC) to them,” he added.
TOI had been closely tracking the issue since long. On May 18, it reported about NU and NMRDA clashing over the proposed hall, primarily on seating capacity and its ownership. The structure was sanctioned way back in 2011. However, it was marred by delays due to unavailability of land.
It was earlier planned near Raj Bhavan. However, after local residents approached the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court over loss of open space, the plans were dropped. Thereafter, Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth (PDKV) was approached for land behind Mor Bhavan, but its executive council turned down the proposal, thus forcing the government to approach NU administration.
