Jalandhar: 17 yrs on, sports hub stone to be laid on June 11

As the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has attempted to revive the work on sports hub at the 60-acre site in Burlton Park, a question that everyone is asking is whether this government shall be able to accomplish the project envisaged 17 years ago.

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The project, which had been initially planned, conceived and announced in September 2008 by the SAD-BJP government and had been re-started during the tenure of the last Congress regime, is set to be re-launched by AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on June 11.

Citing details of the same, Jalandhar Mayor Vaneet Dhir said, “It is a Rs 77.7 crore project wherein we shall spruce up the existing facilities for hockey. We shall create facilities for playing domestic cricket. Two astroturfs for hockey and a seven-a-side natural grass football ground will also be readied. Besides, a shed will be created for practising yoga.” A skating rink, tennis, volleyball and basketball courts, judo rink, open gym, synthetic athletics track, cycling track and jogging track too are also in the pipeline.

As per the first plan announced by former Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia and former Mayor Rakesh Rathour in September 2008, it was a Rs 130 crore project. It had been decided that a world-class cricket stadium will be constructed in a 26-acre part of it and a hockey stadium in a nine-acre area. The rest of the space was to be used for developing other sporting facilities including football, an all-weather swimming pool, badminton, basketball, volleyball, squash, handball, netball, a shooting range, skating rink, jogging and a cycling track, billiards, snooker, judo, gymnasium, besides a five-star hotel, spa, health club, restaurant, bar, lounges, meeting halls, 70 shops and commercial centres.

As the project was to take off, a group of locals had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Punjab and Haryana High Court as several trees were to be axed under the project. It was in 2013 that the PIL had been dismissed but by then the tenure of Kalia and Rathour had got over.

In 2016, the Centre announced that the sports hub would be built under the Smart City mission. Various proposals were made but no work started on ground. Again on January 6, 2022, Jalandhar MC awarded a tender to a Chandigarh-based company, with a 12-month completion deadline but no headway could be made.

Commenting on the planned restart of the project, BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia said, “When we had planned the project 17 years ago, Burlton Park was a good location, but no longer, especially from the point of view of traffic congestion issues around the area. If at all the AAP government wants to invest in developing a sports hub, it should be in the outer area of the city.”

Former Sports Minister and Congress MLA Pargat Singh opined, “All planning must be done meticulously. If there is no provision being made for international cricket, it should be developed more like a training ground. There can be two pitches with a capacity to seat 200-500 people. Ample parking provision must be planned. Public money must be spent very meticulously.”