Sports enthusiasts demand proper arrangement at facility
By: Ahmad Shabir
Anantnag: Despite throwing open an Indoor Sports Stadium at Nilandrus Bijbehara two months ago, the facility continue to function without power supply and proper equipments required for imparting coaching to the sports enthusiasts, leaving them disappointed.
Indoor sports stadium at Bijbehara was constructed at the cost of crores of rupees with the purpose to promote the various sports activities in the area.
It took the authorities many years to complete the project and was finally thrown open nearly a couple of months ago, bringing joy to the sports lovers.
Scores of sports lovers missed no time to get themselves registered with the facility for various indoor games.
However, the non-availability of the electricity and equipments for various indoor games at the facility has left these sportsmen downhearted.
Scores of local sports enthusiasts, who have registered themselves for taking coaching in different indoor games like netball, volley ball, Judo and badminton rued that the stadium is failing to serve the purpose for which it was constructed.
“Though the lighting system has been installed at the facility on which lakhs of rupees have been consumed but the sports council has failed to get the power connection for the multicrore stadium,” a group of sports lovers told Precious Kashmir.
A local Netball coach, Suhail Ahmad Khan, who is imparting Net ball coaching to over a dozen youth at the stadium, said that due to the absence of electricity, the youth visiting the facility for coaching or fitness drills hardly get an hour for the purpose.
“Since most of the youth who come for coaching return homes by 4:30 and they manage to reach the stadium upto 5 or 5:30. So, we start at 5:30 and close at 6 as it is complete darkness inside the hall by then. Had lighting system been working at the stadium, we would continue till late evening,” Khan said.
He said that whatever equipments are needed for Netball coaching, he has purchased on his own.
“Not a single equipment for Netball is there from sports council. It is failing to serve the purpose,” Khan said.
Though the generator is available there but the youth visiting the sports facility say that the same is not being used to ensure electricity inside the hall for unknown reasons.
However, a source said that the sports council has no fuel to run the generator. “The generator consumes a lot of fuel and we don’t have such a budget to use it,” the source said.
Secretary Sports Council, Nuzhat Gul admitted that the stadium is without electricity but added that they have many a times written to the concerned department in this regard.
“We many a time have written to PDD for power supply,” Secretary said.
