By IANS
Ranchi : Indian vice-captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's plans to build a swimming pool in his new home seem to have got into fresh trouble with his neighbours after they filed a public interest suit against its construction on grounds that it would add to the colony's water woes.
Residents of Harmu Housing Colony here filed a PIL in the Jharkhand High Court Tuesday, pleading that the pool's construction be halted. They have also questioned the manner in which the Ranchi Regional Development Authority (RRDA) passed the building plans of the house and the pool.
They had earlier petitioned the RRDA and Jharkhand chief secretary in this regard.
Last week, a team of experts had given a clean chit to the pool in their report submitted to RRDA. It said "there would not be any wastage of water by constructing the swimming pool".
However, the first report submitted by the experts earlier this month had been turned down by the Urban Development Department (UDD), which sought a second report on the technical details.
The PIL also alleges that laws were violated while passing the blueprints of the pool and the adjoining house in the colony.
"The building plans of Dhoni's house was passed in just one day. The RRDA overlooked the technical aspects before clearing it. There is a survey report that Harmu Housing Colony faces a water crisis," said one of the petitioners.
The residents have alleged that the swimming pool will need 400,000 gallons of water which will lead to a water scarcity in the neighbourhood.
The Jharkhand government had gifted the 5,000 square feet plot in Harmu Housing Colony to Dhoni in November 2005.
Dhoni is presently in Britain with the Indian cricket team.