Jarkhar hockey stadium gets floodlights

Mohit Khanna

The sleepy village of Jarkhar, 25 km from the city, which plunges into darkness after sunset, will now glow with the bright light of the hockey stadium that could well be termed as a much-needed breath of fresh air for the national game.

Jarkhar has become the first village in the state to have a floodlit astro-turf hockey stadium and it hosted its first encounters under these light, yesterday. These lights were designed by Prof. Kushdeep Singh and Prof. Arvind Dinga of the Guru Nanak Engineering College and the funds were provided by Manpreet Ayali, chairman, Zila Parishad.

Giving details of the project, Paramjit Singh Neetu, president of Mata Sahib Kaur Sports Stadium at Jarkhar, said the floodlights have been installed to attract children towards the sport and help budding players to hone their skills. He said the work was completed in a month and nearly Rs 5 lakh were spent on the project.

Two exhibition matches were organised to mark the occasion, which received an encouraging response as the residents of the village thronged the stadium to witness the encounters. According to electrician Rupinder Singh, nearly 22 floodlights have been installed in the stadium.

Narinder Pal Singh, chairman of Mata Sahib Kaur Sports Stadium, said this year’s games scheduled from December 15 to 18 would also be hosted under floodlights. Also, the rest of the matches of Olympian Pirthipal Singh Sports Festival would be hosted under lights.

In the last four years, the Jarkhar stadium has undergone a total transition. First, the members of the stadium started a hockey academy. Then a hostel was constructed for hockey players and astro-turf soon replaced grass. Even the State Government and Sports Department had shown a special interest towards this stadium.