Nagpur: Going by the latest developments, the state government seems to have put on hold plan for Vasantrao Naik auditorium on
Nagpur University (NU) land on Amravati Road. District collector Ashwin Mudgal told TOI that they have received request from the government that it wanted a bigger capacity amphitheatre, which the city currently lacks.
“We have sent a proposal last month for an amphitheatre of around 10,000-12,000 capacity to the government, where it’s pending. The earlier plan of 1,500 capacity auditorium has not been dropped. Depending on the government’s preference, we will go ahead with our plan,” said Mudgal.
TOI on June 15 this year reported how NU officials were unhappy over the auditorium proposal as its capacity had been reduced to half. Earlier on March 20, TOI had reported about government’s plans to come up with state-of-the-art amphitheatre instead of auditorium on the NU land. Even CM had stressed the need to have such a facility while inaugurating the Suresh Bhat auditorium on September 22 last year.
The proposed amphitheatre was supposed to be built on the lines of the one in Bhopal and designing part was to be entrusted to well-known architect Ashok Mokha.
Mudgal, however, ruled out any possibility of constructing both auditorium and amphitheatre stating that they were allotted only seven acres of land, which would be inadequate for both structures.
The ground breaking ceremony for the auditorium was to be performed by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, guardian minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule and others on July 1. Vice-chancellor SP Kane and other top officials from NU were also invited for the ceremony scheduled to be held on the land in front of Guru Nanak Bhavan, but the function never took place.
Kane told TOI that even he was surprised that the bhoomipuja couldn’t take place. “I also came to know that the government had dropped original plan for a 1,500 capacity hall and was coming up with a bigger hall. I was told that CMO and union transport minister Nitin Gadkari had rejected the proposal for auditorium,” the VC said.
In 2015, when Fadnavis had offered NU to have an auditorium in memory of former CM Vasantrao Naik, vice-chancellor SP Kane had demanded a bigger capacity hall, in excess of 3,000, in view of its future requirements. Fadnavis had agreed to the demand
The auditorium was supposed to be more than the size of Suresh Bhatt hall having capacity of 2,500 persons. NU had also made a provision of Rs10 core in its budget and was ready to contribute up to Rs20 crore for the project as it planned to hold convocation and other important functions at the auditorium.
The district administration, however, disregarded NU’s claims and also pressurized the VC to accept its proposal of 1,500 capacity hall, citing directives from the CM’s office.
Even the Nagpur Metro Region Development Authority (NMRDA) rejected NU’s demand to have control over the proposed hall while making it clear that all rights, including its maintenance and security, would rest with it.
The administration floated tenders for the new auditorium of about 1,500 capacity and published advertisements in newspapers inviting the bidders.
Former NU registrar Puran Meshram had categorically rejected the administration and NMRDA’s demand, clarifying that NU wanted the new hall for its own use and would allot it only for government functions.
TOI had been closely tracking the issue since long. On May 18, TOI had reported about NU and NMRDA clashing over the proposed hall, primarily on seating capacity and its ownership.
