SMC rejects diamond trader’s demand regarding land acquisition

Surat

A request by Dharmanandan Sports Club, Surat led by city-based diamond trader Lalji Patel, who was recently in news for buying Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pin-stripped suit, to not acquire his land falling under the civic body’s draft Town Planning Scheme has been rejected by municipal authorities here.

The Surat Municipal Corporation said that it rejected Patel’s demand and sent the draft Town Planning Scheme to the Gujarat state government for its final decision.

“Dharmanandan Sports Club made a representation to the SMC that his land should not be acquired as per the draft scheme, as they are in process to construct a sports complex on that land. However, we rejected his demand,” SMC Town Planning Committee Chairman Babu Jeerawala said.

Patel’s plot which comes is around one lakh square metres, while 40,000 square metres of land would be acquired, Jeerawala said.

“After we declared the town planning scheme, we invited objections from affected people. Then, they made representations a month and a half ago, which we rejected the day before yesterday,” he said.

Patel had purchased Modi’s pin-striped suit for Rs 4.34 crore at an auction event held by Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) in February.

As per the SMC’s draft scheme, 40 per cent of private land has to be acquired for development. Patel holds a 1 lakh square feet of land in Variyav village near Surat which the SMC included in its draft planning scheme.

Inputs from PTI