THE long-standing grievance of the national campers could come to an end soon, thanks to the facilities that are coming up at the northern centre of Sports Authority of India (SAI) at village Joshi Chauhan, near Sonepat. An hour and a half’s drive away from Delhi, the centre has got the new hockey turf operational recently, while the laying of the base for an eight-lane athletics track is already complete. The floodlighting of the track has got the official nod and, lately, another sanction has come SAI’s way for a 200room hostel at a cost of Rs 10 crore, making the centre easily accessible from the national capital.

Even the existing 120-room hostel facilities – 60 for girls and 60 for boys – will be upgraded before the end of 2009 with an indoor hall added to the centre to prepare the national campers in athletics, boxing, hockey, judo, kabaddi and wrestling. Though the main aim of the project is provide facilities for the participants of the Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi in 2010, the centre would also serve the purpose of those training for the Guangzhou Asian Games, which precedes the New Delhi Games.

Last week, the newly-appointed SAI director general Sayan Chatterjee, who made a visit to the northern centre, said that 200 beds would be added to the existing facilities. According to sources, the job of constructing the new hostel has been given to the CPWD and it will have to begin the process of tendering, etc.

The source also added that with positive signals coming from the Sports Ministry, the centre could have a 500-bed hostel before the New Delhi Games. It serves as the Centre for Excellence in kabaddi which is a medal discipline for India in the Asian Games. The centre could soon add boxing and judo once the indoor hall comes up, said the source. He said the northern centre would henceforth serve the purpose of hockey training as well since the facilities in Delhi are shut for the renovation of stadia for the 2010 Games. “With such facilities available only in Bangalore and Patiala, there is a heavy rush at these places. Now the junior and senior hockey campers can come to our place for training purposes,” said the official.