Reportedly the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday issued a notice to Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) with instructions to hand over the Wankhede Stadium to the civic body.
The idea is to utilize the stadium to for use as COVID-19 quarantine area.
The letter by Assistant Municipal Commissioner of ‘A’ ward Chanda Jadhav told that the “hotel/lodge/clubs/college/exhibition centres/dormitories/marriage hall/gymkhana/banquet hall” be handed over “with immediate effect”.
It added, “The said premises will be used for emergency staff of ‘A’ Ward and quarantine the person whoever is in contact with a positive COVID-19 patient and are not symptomatic.”
The BMC also said that some of the facilities would be used temporarily and the payments would be done accordingly at a later date. The World-based National Sport Club of India’s indoor stadium was earlier taken to use as a quarantine centre and isolation facilities were set up.
Mumbai is India’s worst affected city with 17,512 COVID-19 cases as of now. This means even if the government decides to ease down restrictions in the fourth phase of the lockdown, Mumbai will have to abide by strict lockdown rules.
The BCCI meanwhile is set to resume cricket training in Bengaluru reportedly soon but Mumbai based cricketers like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will not be able to join the team for the same.