Mumbai: Football players, coaches, club members and local residents gathered at the Neville D'Souza Football Ground at Bandra Reclamation on Sunday to protest against the proposed conversion of the iconic sports venue into a convention and exhibition centre.
The ground, which is leased to the Mumbai Football Association (MFA), is regarded as one of the city's most significant football venues, having nurtured generations of players and hosted numerous league matches.
The protest comes amid growing opposition to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's proposal to change the reservation of the 8,450 sq m plot under the Development Plan (DP) 2034 from a playground to a convention centre.
Advocate Ryann Menezes, Vice-President of the MFA, said nearly 10,000 children use the ground annually for MFA league matches and football activities.
"Our appeal to the Chief Minister and the government is to reconsider the decision and retain it as a football ground," Menezes said.
Social activist and local resident Furkan Shaikh, who has launched an online petition on Change.org seeking to preserve the ground, said he had played cricket at the venue before it was converted into a football turf.
"I have many friends who still play here. Grounds like these are an important part of Mumbai's sporting culture and should be protected," Shaikh said.
Later, MFA President and Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray joined the demonstrators and assured them that he would take up the issue with the state government.
Campaigners argued that while convention centres could be built elsewhere, sports grounds, once lost to development, could not be replaced. They also warned that changing the reservation of a public playground would set a dangerous precedent for the future of Mumbai's open spaces.
The protesters demanded that the proposal be withdrawn, the sports reservation of the ground be retained, sporting infrastructure at the venue be upgraded, an alternative site be identified for the convention centre, and all playgrounds and open spaces be protected from commercial redevelopment.
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