Work yet to begin on indoor halls in many distts
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Jan 25: Though development of sports infrastructure across Jammu and Kashmir was identified as high-priority sector by the Union Government in consultation with the State Government under Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) yet State and Central agencies are soft-paddling on the execution of majority of the projects despite lapse of over two years.
Shockingly, in majority of the districts of the State construction of indoor halls has yet not been started by the Jammu and Kashmir State Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC) and State Sports Council and elected representatives of the people irrespective of party affiliation have been voicing serious concern over this.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that in order to channelize the energy of the youth towards right direction the Union Government felt it imperative to provide state-of-the-art sports infrastructure in all the districts of Jammu and Kashmir and accordingly an amount of Rs 200 crore was earmarked under PMDP for this purpose.
Under the Special Package for development of sports infrastructure, an amount of Rs 44 crore was earmarked for renovation and development of Bakshi Stadium and other works at Srinagar; Rs 40 crore for renovation and development of MA Stadium at Jammu; Rs 92 crore for up-gradation of existing stadiums at Rajouri and Poonch at the cost of Rs 2 crore each and construction of indoor halls in all the district; Rs 10 crore for completion of the construction of outdoor stadium at Udhampur; Rs 2.63 crore for lighting system in artificial football ground at TRC Srinagar and Gani Memorial Stadium at Srinagar; Rs 6 crore for development of infrastructure for water sports activities and Rs 5.37 crore for purchase of sports equipments, furniture and for coaches and trainers etc.
During the past over two years an amount of Rs 30 crore has been released by the Union Government to the State Government with the direction to utilize this amount and submit Utilization Certificates for availing more funds out of Rs 200 crore earmarked under Special Package. However, the agencies of the State as well as Union Governments could spend only Rs 13 crore till date thereby exposing the dilly-dallying approach in execution of projects.
According to the official document, which is in the possession of EXCELSIOR, work on construction of indoor halls in large number of districts has yet not been started by the Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC) and Jammu and Kashmir State Sports Council.
Some of these districts are Shopian, Poonch, Srinagar, Jammu, Kupwara, Kulgam, Pulwama and Anantnag. The work could not be started only because of some minor issues, which otherwise should have been resolved immediately. As per the document, the matter regarding construction of indoor halls in Anantnag, Pulwama and Kulgam is sub-judice in the court of law while as in respect of indoor hall at Kupwara the land has not been transferred till date.
The construction of indoor hall at Bhagwati Nagar in Jammu is held-up due to delay in fixing of the contract while as delay in payment of compensation for fruit trees, identification of site and shifting of HT lines is creating obstacle in start of work on indoor halls in Shopian, Poonch and Srinagar.
Moreover, the work on completion of outdoor stadium at Udhampur has not been started till date. No doubt, work on renovation of Bakshi Stadium and MA Stadium has been started by the National Projects Construction Corporation (NPCC) but the same is going on at snail’s pace, sources said.
For lighting system at Gani Memorial Stadium Rajouri Kadal Srinagar and TRC ground Srinagar, the contracts have not been allotted till date. “The allotment of contract in respect of TRC ground Srinagar is at the final stage while as in respect of Gani Memorial Stadium the tenders are being floated”, read the official document.
As far as development of Water Sports Centres at Dal Lake and Ranjit Sagar Dam Basohli are concerned, even the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) have not been finalized so far. “The DPRs have been submitted to the Union Ministry”, the document simply said.
However, some significant progress has been made in respect of up-gradation of sports stadium at Rajouri and Poonch.
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