Even as Rs 1 crore has been shown as spent on the state-of-the-art sports stadium project in Kharar,there is no work to show for on ground. Except an incomplete stand,nothing has been done to develop Kharars first-ever stadium on an eight-acre site earmarked for the project. Claiming to have spent Rs 1 crore so far and planning to spend another Rs 2 crore on the project,Kharar Municipal Council (MC) now says a tower of high-tension power supply lines installed recently by Punjab State Power Corporation Limited has rendered the stadium useless. Though the civic body claims that the tower has been erected in the midst of a 400-meter athletic track,no such track is visible on the ground. The site,surrounded by pools of dirty stagnant water and heaps of garbage,neither has an approach road nor a boundary wall. So much so,the ground is neither levelled nor marked for any type of sports. Moreover,neither any net nor any goalposts is available for games like football,hockey or other sports. Besides,an open dirty nullah passes through the ground leaving the entire place full of mosquitoes,flies and stench. These factors pose a health hazard to budding sportspersons,who despite all odds,come to play here in the absence of any other sports stadium in the township. Master Surjeet Singh,a physical training instructor (PTI) at Government Model Senior Secondary School,imparts coaching to budding hockey players at the dilapidated ground. He says: We have managed to clean the ground for practice by collecting money from children who come to play here. The MC has done nothing to develop the stadium. Singh,who is rendering selfless service to almost 150 teenagers,adds the power tower comes as a death knell for players as they are now forced to play under the high-tension power supply lines. Our repeated requests to the MC have fallen on deaf ears and now we are planning to hold a protest to wake the civic authorities from their slumber, he warned,while claiming that nothing has been done on the ground to justify expenditure of Rs 1 crore. At a recent MC meeting,a resolution was adopted to ask Power Corporation to shift the tower,which has rendered the stadium useless. Confirming the expenditure of Rs 1 crore,MC Municipal Engineer Baldev Raj Verma said earlier the site was used for dumping garbage. Though he claimed that the stadium was almost complete,but when told that nothing exists on ground,he said the approach road,boundary wall and concrete channelising of dirty drain are yet to be done. It may require another Rs 2 crore to complete the stadium within the next six months, he said,while adding that Power Corporation has been asked to shift the tower. Power Corporation Senior Executive Engineer PS Bains said since MC had raised no objection on draft notification of tower line alignment made in 2006,it was approved and now no alteration could be made. The tower is part of 220-KV new sub-station being established here, he said. The ProjectIt was on December 26,2006,when Kharar MLA Bir Devinder Singh laid the foundation stone of the sports stadium. Touted as a first-of-its-kind stadium with ultra-modern facilities,the project included a 400-meter athletic track,football and hockey grounds,pavillion,two sets of public toilets,rooms for equipments of various games facilities such as boxing,powerlifting,weightlifting,judo,karate,volleyball and baseball,besides rooms for instructors and coaches. Earlier,in July 2005,then Punjab Chief Parliamentary Secretary for Sports and Youth Services Welfare Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi had announced the stadium here with an initial grant of Rs 25 lakh.
