Excelsior Sports Correspondent
Srinagar Sept 14: The sluggish pace of construction work on the much-awaited Indoor Stadium in Rajpora area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district has left sports enthusiasts in despondency.
The sports lovers said the overstretching of the project has dampened the spirits of the youth who were elated with the setting up of the facility in their area. “We were hoping a boom in sports activities with this facility but lag in completion has discouraged us,” Ayoub Ahmad, a resident said, continuing that there have not been any advancements in the project for the last year.
The locals maintained that the Government’s failure to execute the project on time punctures their claims of enhancing the sports infrastructure in the Valley. They said the construction work has been moving on at a slow pace right from the beginning resulting in overstretching of the project. “The project, which was to be completed in two years back has already moved into the third year. I don’t see it getting finished in next one year,” Fayaz Ahmad, a local said.
In 2017, the project was handed over to Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Company with an expected cost of around Rs 4 crore, and work was progressing at an even pace until August 5 last year. However, after that, the work faced frequent disruptions. “They are constructing it at their own will. They work for just four-five days in a month,” he said.
JKPCC General Manager, Masood A Gangoo said, “Approximately 80 percent of the work is complete and the pending part will be executed in next two months”.
He further said that the contractor is based in Chandigarh and could not visit the Valley owing to the pandemic. However, he has been asked to resume the work promptly, adding that the Government released funds in January and there was no crisis of funds.
The youth of the village lamented that the deplorable condition of the sports field in the area. “Several demands that we rose during Back to Village-1 and 2 are yet to be addressed. The basketball and volleyball courts are under construction and the ground needs a cricket turf and ground needs fencing,” Fayaz, said.
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