Players unable to practise at Hisar’s waterlogged stadium

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Hisar, October 15

Sportspersons practising in the Mahavir Stadium — only government stadium in Hisar town — are unable to hit the ground due to heavy flooding of the stadium for the past over three weeks.

Have discontinued practice

The Covid crisis restricted the practice for almost one and a half years. I have resumed my practice at Mahavir Stadium, but the rains in September flooded the stadium forcing us to discontinue practice there. An athlete

Order to drain water

DC Dr Priyanka Soni visited the stadium on Thursday and told officials of Public Health Engineering Department to drain the water within two days

The players in outdoor, track and field events are unable to resume practise due to stagnant rainwater in the stadium. They said they had no other venue in the town, especially for running, except the Mahavir Stadium.

“The Covid crisis restricted the practice for almost one and a half years. I have resumed my practice at Mahavir Stadium, but the rains in September flooded the stadium forcing us to discontinue practice there”, said an athlete. He said they could not practise on the roads as the concrete surface could result in injuries.

An official of the Sports Department said the stadium was located in the low-lying area and there was no proper drainage system for the outlet of rainwater. “Every time, it rains the ground of the stadium is waterlogged for several days. We have been taking up the issue with the Public Health Engineering Department, but there has been no solution to the problem”, he said adding that the excessive rain in September has resulted in waterlogged ground. However, to take stock of the situation, Deputy Commissioner Dr Priyanka Soni visited the stadium yesterday and directed officials of Public Health Engineering Department to drain the water within two days.

The Deputy Commissioner asked the officials to install generators and pumping sets so that the water was drained out by Saturday. She also has directed the District Sports Officer (DSO) and the officials of Public Works Department (Building and Road Branch) to prepare such a plan keeping future in view, so that there was no problem of waterlogging in the stadium.

The DC said apart from constructing a wall on the side of Madhuban Park, a pipeline should also be laid for the drainage of water. He also directed the Sports Department officials to send a proposal to the Municipal Corporation office for setting up recharge bore.