‘Cricket association still to submit documents’

The first World Cup match at Wankhede stadium is scheduled for March 13, but what may come as bad news for cricket lovers in Mumbai is that the stadium has not yet received the much-touted occupation certificate (OC) from the civic body.

The first World Cup match at Wankhede stadium is scheduled for March 13, but what may come as bad news for cricket lovers in Mumbai is that the stadium has not yet received the much-touted occupation certificate (OC) from the civic body.

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The OC is indispensable to host the World Cup matches and officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said that the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) is yet to submit some of the papers that will be essential before the final OC is given. “Its just now a mere formality, everything else is in place. Once they submit these papers, we will issue them the OC,” said a civic official.

“We have submitted the required papers to the authorities and expect to get the OC anytime soon,” said Ratnakar Shetty, director of the World cup and treasurer of the MCA. The state environment department gave its consent to operate to the Wankhede stadium on Tuesday. The permission from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and the fire brigade has been given to the stadium after compliance with all the set standards.

Meanwhile, the BMC has made all the necessary arrangements to make sure that the cricket fans are not inconvenienced and the area around the stadium is clean.

The BMC has painted the medians, removed debris from around the stadium and has also painted pedestrian walkways. The railings outside the Churchgate station have been tweaked to make sure that they don’t cause any obstruction to the pedestrians.