| R-Day in M A Stadium, authorities asked to complete work by Nov | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Oct 22: While the work on Maulana Azad Stadium, an exclusive cricket stadium of international level is in full swing, the Jammu Divisional Administration has issued a deadline to the executing agency NPCC to complete the work by November end in view of Republic Day celebration of 2020.
"The Jammu Divisional Administration has issued November ending deadline to the executing agency and asked them to complete work at the stadium so that Republic Day function of 2020 can be held on larger scale," official sources here said.
The government's decision of choosing Maulana Azad Stadium as venue for 2020 Republic Day function, has already invited criticism from different sections.
Earlier in January 2019, in view of the ongoing construction work of stadium, Republic Day function was held at the University of Jammu, where a full-fledged infrastructure was raised.
"Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Sanjeev Verma is personally monitoring the project and has geared up all agencies for the conduct of R-day celebrations," sources added.
They also alleged that the NPCC have been told to meet the deadline otherwise, action can be initiated against them in case they fail to handover the venue on time to the administration.
Shifting of R-Day celebration function from M A Stadium was one of the major and long-pending demands of the sportspersons and sports lovers of Jammu and they wanted the government to come up with a separate venue, so that sports activities do not get hampered.
Before 2019, the stadium was every year, closed for sports activities for nearly two months, from the first week of December till January due to security reasons for Republic Day celebrations, followed by 'Beating the Retreat'.
The renovation and rebuilding of the stadium was estimated to cost around Rs 50 crore under the Prime Minister's Special Package, being supervised by the National Projects Construction Corporation (NPCC). |
|
