The Hindu: ‘Poor’ maintenance of hockey stadium
D J Walter Scott
The world class Astroturf hockey stadium, established by the Ramanathapuram District Hockey Association under the ‘Namakku Name’ scheme at a cost of ? 6 crore, was not maintained properly due to stand off between the RDHA and the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT).
Former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa inaugurated the facility in February, 2016. The Velumanickam hockey stadium was buzzing with activities with series of matches for nearly a year only to fall silent for more than one year after the SDAT took over the stadium in 2017.
Established with about ? 1.5 crore mobilised by the association, it was lying idle as the SDAT has fixed a tariff of ? 1,250 an hour for competitions, Chelladurai Abdullah, secretary, RDHA, said. The tariff deterred players from coming to the stadium. Besides, those who had laid the Astroturf suggested watering it twice a day but it was done once in 10 days, he said.
The Astroturf hockey stadium in Tirunelveli had suffered due to poor maintenance, he said and feared the stadium here too would meet the same fate. “After the 7th Sub-Junior Women National Hockey Championship in March, 2017 no major tournament was held,” he said.
The association wanted to host a match between India and Malaysia after the France based Labosport, one of the accredited laboratories of International Hockey Federation, certified the facility fit for hosting international tournaments but before it could arrange the match, the stadium was grabbed from them, he said.
The stadium was established thanks to the initiative taken by the then Collector K. Nanthakumar but the purpose has been defeated, Mr. Abdullah said and questioned the logic behind SDAT taking over the facility when it was built with contribution from philanthropists. The district administration has not convened a single sports meeting in the last one year, he said.
District sports and youth welfare officer P Frank Paul Jayaseelan said the SDAT was maintained well though watering twice in a day was not possible as both wells had gone dry. Funds have been mobilised and daily watering would be restored after digging a bore well. The tariff was collected only for competitions and players were free to use the facility for practice. The SDAT has recently conducted inter-districts tournament and the stadium remained vibrant, he said.