After 33 yrs, Faridabad to get first indoor stadium

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, September 2

It took the project of the first indoor stadium of the city 33 long years to complete. The Rs 25 crore project is now ready to be thrown open to sportspersons.

"While the foundation stone of the indoor stadium located in the district sports complex in Sector 12 was laid for the first time in 1986, the work on the project with just 10 per cent complete remained suspended for around 26 years. The authorities concerned revived it in 2012 after redesigning it," say sources in the local administration.

"The work on the project gathered speed in the past few years when the Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) took it up," says Rajeev Sharma, Superintending Engineer, HSVP.

The first of a kind project will provide facilities in various sports disciplines such as boxing, volleyball, badminton, table tennis, wrestling, weightlifting, softball and skating and will help budding players to practise in all seasons,’’ he said.

He said that the project was handed over to the HSVP seven years ago and it had spent Rs 25 crore on it.

Officials are also clueless about the original budget of the project. The district sports council had sanctioned around Rs 12.5 crore for it after it was revived in 1995. However, the budget rose to around Rs 17 crore in 2012 when the project was redesigned, say the sources.

"While the first break in the project occurred between 1986 and 1995, the second delay occurred between 1995 and 2012, thus depriving budding sports players of facilities," said an official of the Sports Department.

"The stadium is likely to be opened to players within a week as the last stage formalities for approval are being completed," said the officials concerned.