Cricket stadium fails to come up even after 8 yrs

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 8

Eight years have passed since Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal laid the foundation stone of the international cricket stadium in the city with much fanfare on his birthday on December 8, 2007, but the project is still far from being a reality.

The stadium was to come up on the land of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) Regional Research Centre at Jodhpur Romana village, which was transferred in the name of the Punjab Government soon after the foundation stone was laid.

Earlier, the Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) prepared a cricket ground, but later, the state government proposed to construct a fish market on the same land. Now, the government has planned to give the land for the upcoming AIIMS project.

Executive member of the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) and general secretary of the Bathinda District Cricket Association (BDCA) OD Sharma said, “We have been approaching the Deputy Commissioner and other authorities to allow us to prepare a cricket ground on the land, which was allocated for the cricket stadium near the Dabwali Road in Bathinda.”

He said the state government issued a tender for the stadium and the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) made a bid for it but it was still unknown why the government did not go further with the project.

He added the previous Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav had even assured them to provide the piece of land allocated for the cricket stadium and even the Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) prepared a cricket ground and central wicket and a tube well was also installed. But now, the government has proposed to construct a fish market on the land of cricket stadium, which is quite unfortunate, he said.

They also demanded that the Deputy Chief Minister should look into the matter and save the ground for the development of the game in the district.