World Cup Stadium looks majestic and Most Modern
After almost two years, I entered National Stadium today. Even as the pavement and front side flooring works are still underway, absolutely making you wonder how the stadium will be dedicated in three days, the scene inside is really heartwarming. Almost 200 labours are working day in and night to make things happen.
Though due to Delhi Arts Commission’s strict advise the face of the stadium remains the same, the inside is a transformed one.
What I happened to see — media is forbidden to enter the stadium unless ‘dedicated’ to the nation, which will happen on 24th, I thank my stars to be there today — was a wonderful experience. I cannot belive this is the same stadium that we have been seeing for the last almost two decades.
This is a well planned, wonderful structure. First, the turf is now brought to the centre — previously the turf was 28 feet away from main gallery, now only 18 — which has made the look of the stadium great.
The oval-sized, and also over-sized stands are now almost rectange, with slight curves on each part, almost it was done in Adobe’s photoshop!
The stand capacity has come down almost half from 50000 earlier, which almost led to see empty stands even 10,000 looked no attendence. This has gone.
Unlike previously, no one need to sit on cement stands, as the whole stadium stands are provided with plastic chairs.
The exterior of stands are laced with three storeyed buildings, of immaculate design and done on the same colour as that of the front fort, giving a great deal of aesthetic pleasure
The front part is double storeyed, lot of space between the stands and and the entry. The ground floor here is having all those rooms for change, officials etc. There is separate enclosure for commentary and other media.
There are, believe, six lifts, spread over on all sides. I don’t think anywhere in the hockey world the stadium has so many of them.
Three sides of the stadium stand, have three floors, belived to have about 100 rooms, all well furnished and can accomodate players for regular training. Supervisors there claim each of these rooms will have all paraphernalia including Air Cons.
The look is most modern in the sense you can catch the action very close, though it is closer from east, west and northern than from the southern part which is the entry looking the majestic India Gate.
If you purchase ticket, go for the northern stands, which is going to give you the best spectacle. This is may strong recommendation.
There are four floodlight masts, their height can be reduced to half when the floodlights are not in use. It is a fantastic innovation.
The turf is laid after giving madatory settling time. The green is not that bright, a bit dull
There are two more turfs. One is at the exact place where the PNB Academy was located. This practice pitch will also have floodlights, which I feel is a luxury.
At the long pathway, if one enters from India Gate side, the natural grass on which youngsters and uninitiated used to play will be thing of past. Perhaps, that area does not need another artificial turf. But now the beautiful verdue is mowed down, and another turf is going to be laid. It longitudinally laid to the main entrance.
There is a large moving space between the front entry and the front stands. At the centre is downstairs for the dressing rooms.
Previously, on the eastern side of the stadium had a long and winding mounds laced with green grass, those have been removed. And because the turf areas is reduced by half, lot of space is still available for natural grass ground on the eastern side.
Insiders claim, the grass ground will come up once the Commonwealth Games is over,for, now it will be used for parking.
Other usual grounds such as tennis etc etc are also given a new face
When, in the mid 90s, we saw how an ordinary ground in Mayor Radhakrishnan stadium was transformed into a marvel, in less than six moths. That does not look any more a woner, against what I saw today.
When dignitary after dignitary said this Major Dhyan Chand stadium will be world’s most beautiful one, we were happy though clueless. Now you can easily and proudly endorse them. I do certainly.
Now, it is worth to be called National Stadium named after a legend Dhyan Chand.
Note: Today was also a boring day in some sense, as the authorities demand whole lot of documents to give you media accreditation for the 24th Jan’s ‘dedication of the stadium to the nation’, I had to shuttle between Nehru Stadium and National but all those pains were lost once I could see the marvel called National stadium.