A historic 85-year-old gym in SoBo faces eviction

Over the decades, NHL has been instrumental in shaping 30 national-level and seven Commonwealth champions, and 11 state players in weight lifting, powerlifting, karate and athletics. Eleven of its members are Shiv Chhatrapati awardees and two are Dadoji Kondeo awardees

MUMBAI: The National Health League (NHL), a historic gymnasium and club established in 1941 at Hazarimal Somani Marg in Azad Maidan, is facing eviction on April 22. The Maharashtra government’s deputy director of sports and youth services, under whose jurisdiction the club operates, has instructed the district collector and competent authority in Greater Mumbai to take possession of the building to establish a sports complex. The eviction notice, a copy of which is with HT, was served on April 1.

A historic 85-year-old gym in SoBo faces eviction

Over the decades, NHL has been instrumental in shaping 30 national-level and seven Commonwealth champions, and 11 state players in weight lifting, powerlifting, karate and athletics. Eleven of its members are Shiv Chhatrapati awardees and two are Dadoji Kondeo awardees. The gymnasium even served as a training ground for freedom fighters to practise during India’s independence movement.

Spread across 939 square metres, the gym offers training in a variety of disciplines, including weightlifting, gymnastics, powerlifting, athletics, and the traditional Indian martial art of Kalari. Remarkably, it charges a nominal monthly membership fee of just ₹150, making fitness and sports training accessible to people from all walks of life. Athletes and members, who see the institution not just as a sports facility but as a living monument of Mumbai’s cultural and athletic history, observed a silent protest on Sunday.

Jayalaxmi Shetty, secretary of NHL, told HT that the club currently had around 350 members, a drop from over 1,000 before the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are facing eviction on April 22, and the authorities have even sought police protection,” she said. “I was recently summoned by the Azad Maidan police to give a statement.”

Shetty added that the club’s lease expired in 2007, similar to Bombay Gymkhana’s lease which expired in 2006, and they were seeking renewal, emphasising that the club had been serving the sporting community for 84 years. “This club supports athletes regardless of caste, creed and economic background,” she said, adding that the club paid rent up to October 2022, after which the payments were rejected, forcing them to stop. “We were paying a monthly rent of ₹6,338, but now they are demanding ₹31,600—five times more,” she said.

NHL plans to move the HC against the eviction notice. Advocate Prerak Choudhary, who will represent the body, reiterated that the gymnasium had a subsidised membership that was affordable for people with modest means. “I am exploring the ways in which they can seek protection from forceful eviction,” he said. “While no action for eviction is taken against elite high-end clubs whose leases have expired, it is unfortunate that such selflessly serving institutions are not treated equally and are subjected to coercive action. This is clearly in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution.”

Mahadev K, deputy collector and competent authority of Greater Mumbai remained unavailable for comment.