Wedding venue at Khel Gaon sealed for green norm violations, illegal construction

NEW DELHI: Jhankar Banquets, a well-known wedding venue at Asiad Tower in south Delhi’s Khel Gaon, was sealed on Tuesday by the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee for alleged unauthorised construction and violations of the green norms.
K J Rao, member of monitoring committee, said “They have not even fulfilled all the conditions laid down by the MCD tribunal, on the basis of which it was de-sealed earlier.Moreover, there are other violations related to green norms and concretisation,” Rao said, adding that some of the unauthorised constructions were found inside the complex, which were too close to a heritage structure.
The Asiad Tower, which has five venues inside, was allotted to Jhankar hotels for 30 years by Delhi Development Authority on its bid of Rs 2.85 crore in 1997. The SC-appointed panel had on June 17, 2010, ordered the sealing of Jhankar Banquets after it found gross violation of the Master Plan for Delhi 2021 in the green area used by it.
It was, however, opened after a Supreme Court ruling in 2014. The locals residing in and around the Asiad Games Village had then protested against the reopening claiming the site was their district park and had been illegally commercialised by DDA.