Team Anna pricerd out by venue fee
22 Dec 2011
Anna Hazare and his team of activists who plan to hold a protest camp in Mumbai starting 27 December, for three days have run into accommodation problems.
After they were told they would have to shell out Rs11 lakh in rental fee for the MMRDA Ground, the activists said they might go to court to demand an appropriate alternative venue.
According to Anna's aide Mayank Gandhi, supporters might offer donations to help the activists, but they did not support a five star protest. Though they had been offered Azad Maidan for the protest at no cost, they turned it down saying it would not be able to accommodate the huge crowds they expected - 50,000 to 1 lakh a day.
Anna's aides had asked for police and other clearances for the centrally-located MMRDA Ground. However they were informed that costs would be Rs3.77 lakh per day.
This is nearly double the rs 2 lakh quoted initially by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
Yesterday, the activist urged chief minister of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan, to intervene.