Anantnag: The sluggish pace of work on the indoor stadium being built here in Rajpora area of Pulwama district has left sports enthusiasts as well as the general public of the area disappointed.
The stadium was sanctioned in late 2016 and the construction work was started in 2017 by a Chandigarh-based contractor. The stadium was expected to cost Rs 4 crore. The Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC) was the executive agency for the project.
The people of the area in general, and sports enthusiasts in particular, were upbeat about this development as they believed that it will engage the youth in a positive way. “But it has been a long wait and it still seems to be nowhere near completion,” Khursheed Wani, a local resident, told Kashmir Reader.
While people like Khursheed have been waiting for the facility’s completion so that they are able to use it and hone their skills of different sports, the elderly from the area believe that the platform will be instrumental in channelising the energy of the youth in a positive direction.
“We as a whole are battling the nuisance of drug addiction and I believe the sole reason for this menace is lack of recreational opportunities for the youth, who are already living a really stressed life in this conflict zone,” a local elderly, Abdul Samad, told Kashmir Reader.
He believes that the stadium can prove to be a boon in such times for the simple reason that youngsters will have something productive to do.
“But in the last few years we have seen the site being frequently abandoned and no work being carried out for months at a stretch,” the locals rue.
Sources in the JKPCC said that the two back-to-back lockdowns since August last year have played spoilsport as the contractor from Chandigarh could not visit frequently and the work could not be carried out in a sustained manner.
“Had the contractor been from here, he would have done at least some work during the lockdown as well,” the sources said.
Deputy General Manager of the JKPCC for Pulwama, Masood Gangoo, however insisted that the facility is almost complete. “Only flooring and some aluminium work needs to be done now and the tenders for that have been floated,” Gangoo said, adding that five tenders received for the work are by people from outside Jammu and Kashmir.
Gangoo hoped that the work will be allotted soon and the project will be completed.
“I believe it will take us another twenty to twenty five days to complete the project,” Gangoo said.

Suhail A Shah