Facilities announced for Mohali stadiums had no official back up
7 Feb, 2014The district authorities of Mohali had claimed that the seven newly built sports stadiums in the district would include a synthetic track, a cycling velodrome and various other facilities but when the stadiums were built, none of these facilities was found to be incorporated.
When an application was filed with the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) in this regard under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to know as to why these facilities were cancelled, the reply to the application indicated that these provisions were not even proposed in the first place. The District Planning Committee had claimed that the Sector 78 stadium will contain a 400-metre synthetic track, the first of its kind in Punjab. Even after the stadium was built, the DPC chairman maintained that the synthetic tracks will be built but the reply given by GMADA says that no such provision was in the proposals. Similarly, the authorities had claimed that one stadium would be having a cycling velodrome, but the RTI reply shows that there was no provision for this either.
Moreover, the deadline for the Rs. 54 crore project was in March, 2012 but they were inaugurated in September, 2013. Even after inauguration, they haven’t become functional. GMADA said in the reply that the stadiums would become operational only after they have been handed over to Punjab Sports department, which is still under consideration.