Infested with termites, new wooden badminton courts getting damaged

Tribune News Service

Harshraj Singh

Ludhiana, August 4

The newly built wooden badminton courts at Lal Bahadur Shastri Hall near Guru Nanak Stadium are getting damaged, raising many eyebrows. Additionally, joints of synthetic mats on the courts have also begun to show signs of tearing, badminton enthusiasts said.

Now, it came to light that the wooden courts are infested with termites, which are causing the damage. As a result, players who come for practice are now experiencing hardships. Notably, the refurbishment of the courts was a project undertaken by Ludhiana Smart City Limited, costing an estimated Rs 2.08 crore.

Anupam Kumaria, general secretary of the Punjab Badminton Association, highlighted the issue, stating that the recently built wooden courts were deteriorating and even synthetic mats used on the courts were showing signs of wear and tear. He suspects that poor-quality materials were used in the building of the wooden courts, including the possibility of using substandard wood. He urges the government to conduct a thorough investigation in the matter to determine whether the wood recommended by the authorities was used or cheaper and low-quality wood was used instead.

Kumaria said the contractor made an attempt to repair the damaged courts by sending some workers last night. However, on inspection, it was found that the new wooden courts were infested with termites. Kumaria said if the contractor had used good-quality wood, such issues would not have arisen.

Association members and players had earlier also raised questions over the quality of the new wooden courts. They had also alleged that the new courts were not even polished.

Ludhiana West MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi and Municipal Corporation (MC) Commissioner Shena Aggarwal conducted an inspection at Shastri badminton hall near Guru Nanak stadium.

After finding anomalies in the wooden courts of the badminton hall, MLA Gogi and Dr Aggarwal directed the MC officials concerned to issue notice to the contractor and impose penalty for doing poor quality work.

The civic body officials said no payment had been released to the contractor yet under the project to refurbish the badminton hall and he has been directed to replace the wooden flooring to avoid further action.

Rs 2.08-cr project

Now, it came to light that the wooden badminton courts are infested with termites, which are causing the damage. Joints of synthetic mats on the courts have also begun to show signs of tearing. The refurbishment of the courts was a project undertaken by Ludhiana Smart City Limited, costing an estimated Rs 2.08 crore.

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