Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR, Mar 3: Despite their completion, the long-awaited sports stadiums in Mirgund area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district and Rajpora area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district remain unusable, with sportsmen blaming the delays on administrative indifference.
The officials said that the delay in the opening of the sports facilities was due to a misunderstanding between the Department of Youth Services and Sports and the construction agency. “The facilities are complete; the Sports Department must take over from us, but their indifference is causing the process to be delayed. We have sent multiple communications to the department about it, but nothing has transpired so far, ” an official close to the situation told the Daily Excelsior.
He continued that a delay in the takeover is causing them to pay idle wages to the staff deputed at the project sites. “Apart from that, the water supply and electricity connections that are to be given by the Sports Department are yet to be established,” he said.
The sports stadiums were built to provide multi-purpose sports facilities for the youth of these areas, but the delays have left them frustrated. The overstretching of the project, according to sports enthusiasts has dampened the emotions of the youth who were ecstatic with the establishment of facilities in their areas. “We were hoping for a rise in sports activities with this facility, but the delay in the opening has disheartened us,” a resident, Ayoub Ahmad, said.
The Jammu and Kashmir Projects Corporation Company was in charge of the projects, which were estimated to cost roughly Rs. 4 crores each. The construction began in 2017 and was scheduled to be finished in two years, but it faced delays for multiple reasons.
One of the reasons, according to officials, is that the project was halted on August 5, 2019, owing to an unsatisfactory circumstance. “Work on both projects continued at a steady pace until August 5. The work was resumed in part before being halted because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Despite the difficulties, work was completed,” according to an official.
Locals said that the Government’s failure to complete the project on schedule undermined its promises to improve the Valley’s sports infrastructure. They said that the building work had been going at a slow rate from the start, causing the project to be overstretched. “They took additional time to build it and are now delaying its opening. I am not sure how our administration tolerates such a casual attitude from the employees,” said Basit Ahmad, a Shopian resident.
Executive Engineer, Youth Services and Sports Department, Fayaz Ahmad, told Excelsior that they are ready to take over the stadiums and are arranging an inaugural ceremony. “We asked the building agency to delegate its executives to accompany them, but they have not done so far,” he added.
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