VMC’s move to auction garba ground sparks row

Vadodara: The move by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) to auction 15 plots at different locations in the city has put the fate of a garba venue hanging in balance.
The garba in concern is organized on Waghodiya Road by a BJP legislator and the civic body had included it in a list of 26 plots that would not be auctioned as they were used for public purposes.
VMC had recently advertised a list of 15 plots it intended to auction in the city. These include a plot near Suryanagar on Waghodiya Road called the Suryanagar Garba Ground. The plot measures 2,881 sq m and was reserved as a community facility.
BJP MLA Shailesh Mehta, who is also a VMC councillor, highlighted a major gaffe committed by the civic body in the decision to auction the plots. Mehta said that the VMC had in 2003 decided that it will not auction plots that are used for garbas or for other public purposes. A resolution in this regard was passed by the civic body that included a list of 26 such plots in the city.
Mehta said that the Suryanagar land was also in the list of plots. The garba on this plot is organised by Mehta himself and is one of the popular garba venues on the Waghodiya Road. Mehta said that it seemed that the 2003 resolution was overlooked while preparing the list of plots to be auctioned by the civic body.
In a letter to the VMC commissioner, Mehta has stated that apart from the garba, other religious or spiritual events were also organized on the plot. He said that the advertisement for the auction of plots should be amended at the earliest and the plot should be removed from the list.