Inhospitable Air

NO additions this year to the capital's spartan club life. Certainly not the long-expected grand opening of the Rs 120-crore India Habitat Centre (IHC). Too bad for the 6,089 professionals who paid up membership fees two years ago in the hope of accessing a club that had aimed to take on Delhi's prestigious India International Centre. They'll have to wait longer to enjoy the club's proposed five-star comforts. For, it will be a while before the IHC's brochured promises—swimming pool, art gallery, library, executive fitness centre, seven restaurants and three bars—become a reality.

Not that the IHC governing council hasn't been busy. But it has mostly been digging the club out of one controversy after another. First, there was the exit of its high-profile director Vinay Jha following a bitter disagreement with two governing members over the cost and scale of the project. In May 1995, the council reviewed the club's budget and some members said the project costs had grossly exceeded. Construction was put on hold for seven months. The council was split in its opinion with Jha opposing the stoppage of work.

Then, in September, the IHC was taken to court by Old World Hospitality (OWH) which had been initially awarded a contract to design, plan, commission and operate the club's hospitality facilities. It had bid and won the contract through open tenders. And claims to have worked for two-and-a-half years on the project, till the contract was 'arbitrarily' terminated.

Last week saw a Delhi High Court ruling in the matter. It seems to be a precursor to a long-drawn legal battle that threatens to keep members out of the elite club. Three council members were indicted—Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) Chairman and Managing Director K.K. Bhatnagar, Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI) Director R.K. Pachauri and National Institute of Urban Affairs Director Din-esh Mehta—for "suppressing material facts" and giving false affidavits. Harsh on the IHC, the ruling says: "Having entered into a contract and lulled the plaintiff into a sense of security and the guarantee of continuance of the contract and having stopped the work...is against all canons of the principles of justice." The IHC wants to appeal now—which, in turn, means further delay.

Not that these 'nitty-gritty' facts hold much interest for the IHC members. Having received neither membership cards nor any newsletter from the club for the past several months, the only information that matters to most members pertains to the club's opening. "Who cares for internal bickerings? Or the maze of litigation that they have lost themselves in. The building is up on prime south Delhi land and we've paid to be inside of it. Why haven't they facilitated this thing yet?" fulminates an irate member.

So, here's the crux of the matter from the horse's mouth. "There's a question mark on when the IHC will open up for its members," says R.M.S. Liberehan, director of IHC on deputation from HUDCO, listing municipal clearance, fire clearance, work on audio systems along with the court case as deterrents to the club's impending inauguration.

Talks across the table could perhaps help? But then the law has to take its course, says Liberehan. Quips interior designer Mohit Gujral who has been working on the project: "There has to be a desire to iron out problems through discussions. There's been no such inclination." Complaining that his payments too have been stopped.

Meanwhile, 80 OWH employees and 22 IHC personnel continue to work towards making IHC a "catalyst for a synergetic relationship between individuals and institutions working in diverse habitat related areas." A far cry in the current context really. The premises, that should have been a centre of thriving club activity by now, is filled with construction labourers who work at their own pace. Further, thanks to the court's injunctions, organisations that are already operating in the Centre are forced to tell their guests that food can be served only within their office space. The annual capital cost is Rs 98 crore. "With prices escalating every year, the losses being incurred by the IHC are mounting," Jha says, estimating the club's cumulative losses at Rs 8 crore.

Money, time and promises are at stake. Problems need to be sorted out. So that the 6,000-odd members can discuss their problems in the swank club. That's not much to ask for. That was what was promised.