Skating rink at Sarangpur Sports Complex on Chandigarh plans

Deepankar Sharda

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Chandigarh, January 3

The UT Sports Department is planning to come up with a national-level roller hockey/skating rink by converting the existing facilities at the Sarangpur Sports Complex.

A team of experts, including those from the Sports Department and local association, visited the complex to check the possibility of restructuring the arena for setting up a new skating rink. At present, the Sarangpur complex has an athletics (200m) track, weightlifting (awaiting proper equipment) arena, basketball and volleyball courts and playing area for kho kho and kabaddi disciplines.

“The local skaters have done exceptionally well at national and international circuits. The department is putting all efforts to give them a best place to train,” said Sorabh Kumar Arora, Director, Sports, UT.

Last year, a team of experts had visited Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 23, to explore the possibility of shifting the football coaching centre.

A cover-up act?

After mulling possibilities of a football stadium at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 23, the national-level skating rink at Sarangpur is the second such proposal launched by the Sports Department.

Existing facilities will be converted as a ‘cover-up’ for the ‘poorly constructed’ complexes of these two disciplines (skating and football).

Ironically, the UT Administration had spent crores on constructing the Sector 17 football stadium, which is now a Tiranga Urban park, but the stadium was declared unfit for playing or hosting national-level matches. Questions have been also raised on the existing Sector 10 Skating Rink, which is also reportedly built in haste without taking an expert opinion.

The Administration again spent crores on building the skating rink, which is not even used by skaters for practice purpose. Now, in a bid to ‘cover up’ the Sector 17 and Sector 10 blunders, the Administration is coming up with the plans of providing improved facilities at Sector 23 and at Sarangpur. At present, the Administration has only one skating rink in Sector 10, which was constructed in 1970 and has facilities to hold artistic, speed and roller hockey events.