SPORT

City cries for cricket stadium
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 26
This city has produced many cricketers like Yash Pal Sharma, Chaman Lal, Bharti Vij, Satish Mangal, Girdhari Lal Joshi, Dharam Raj (senior and junior), Vinod Sharma, Rakesh Mehra, Dharmveer, Shyam Lal and many others. But Ludhiana is lacking proper infrastructure for the game as there is no cricket stadium in the town.

As many as 19 players represent the district. About 105 players have been enrolled by the Ludhiana District Cricket Association (LDCA) for this session. But these players have to practice at the Arya College ground because there is no cricket stadium in this industrial town.

“If the other cites like Jalandhar, Patiala, Mohali and Amritsar can have a cricket stadium why can’t the government create one in this city. Ludhiana is the largest, most populated city of the state with the maximum number of cricket players and sports lovers. But the government appears to be ignorant about the promotion of the game in the city”, says Mr Jeevan Dhawan, an industrialist who is a keen cricket lover since his childhood.

National table tennis player Ashish Thapar feels that Ludhiana was denied the chance by the authorities as we have a permanent Rakh Bagh grounds where all the matches were played. Even we hosted Ranji matches. But the Rakh Bagh cricket grounds were shifted to the Guru Nanak Stadium. Later on it became a permanent venue for other games and the authorities never kept their promise that they will provide a full fledged cricket stadium.

Mr Lokesh Khanna, former secretary of the LDCA, said that there was a time when people came here to participate in different tournaments on weekends. Even teams from Haryana and Delhi were regular in weekend fixtures and players like Mohinder Amarnath, Surinder Amarnath, Kapil Dev, Ashok Malhotra, Navjot Sidhu, Vijay Mehra, Chaman Lal and Yash Pal Sharma were groomed here playing at Ludhiana cricket grounds, he added. He said we have hundreds of cricket players in the city but no cricket stadium.

Mr Gopal Krishan Gupta, a businessman, was of the view that the city must have a full-fledged cricket stadium so that talent could be groomed properly. He stressed that Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal should give the land to build this stadium and the rest of the fund should be pooled by the leading businessmen of the city so that our players do not have to suffer due to lack of infrastructure.

“For how long can we organise cricket tournaments in the grounds of schools and colleges which are not at par with the national standards. The only good wicket in the city is at Punjab Agricultural University campus and the authorities charge Rs 5,000 for a day to hold any tournament or training camp there. Now the youngsters have no proper place to play the game”, said Gopal Kapoor, a school student, who has been recently selected in the school cricket team.

Football probables
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 26
The Punjab Women Football Association (PWFA) has announced the names of 25 probables and five reserves for the second phase of the coaching camp to be held from April 27 to May 11 at Guru Hargobind Girls Khalsa College, Gurusar Sadhar.

Those selected are: Baljit Kaur, Ranjit Kaur, Manjit Kaur, Satwinder Kaur, Hardeep Kaur, Harkamaljit Kaur, Mandeep Kaur, Paramjit Kaur, Amandeep Kaur, Ramandeep Kaur, Talwinder Kaur, Harjit, Deepika, Sharanjit, Amandeep, Kuldeep Kaur, Sukhjit Kaur, Aarti, Sunita, Lalita, Nisha, Simranjit, Harjeet Kaur, Kanwaljit Kaur, Deepika, Mandeep and Baljit.

ADMINISTRATION

Development projects approved
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 26
The Municipal Corporation has approved development projects for the city worth Rs 17.65 crore. A new stadium will be constructed at Pakhowal Road at an estimated cost of Rs 1.28 crore, landscaping of the Guru Nanak Stadium will be undertaken at a cost of Rs 19.26 lakh while a sum of Rs 21.49 lakh will be spent on landscaping and maintenance of Daresi road parks.

The Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC) of the civic body in its meeting held on Wednesday evening approved the grant of work orders for laying of roads and streets, brick flooring and laying of premix carpet on different city roads at an expenditure of Rs 8.97 crore. Tenders received by the MC for water supply and sewerage works worth Rs 63.29 lakh, purchase of fittings and fixtures for streetlights worth Rs 1.93 crore and for maintenance of parks worth Rs 65.19 lakh were approved in the meeting for issuance of work orders and commencement of work.

New and revised estimates for laying of roads and pavement, involving an expenditure of Rs 3.52 crore, sewerage and water supply schemes for Rs 35.63 lakh, providing streetlights at a cost of Rs 1.30 crore and maintenance of parks at a cost of Rs 28.38 were also sanctioned and process for calling tenders was set in motion. Purchases for the Traffic Improvement Cell of the MC worth Rs 1.03 lakh were also approved in the meeting.

The committee also gave its nod to an estimate of Rs 1.70 crore for maintenance of around 25,000 streetlight points in the city by private contractors, with the rider that open tenders be invited for the job since the estimate submitted by the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) appeared to be on the higher side. The private contractors, running the MC tubewells in the city were also granted another extension for two months.

Other major projects cleared in the meeting included construction of footpaths on the Club Road at an estimated cost of Rs 19.42 lakh, relaying of Malerkotla Road from the octroi post to the Lohara bridge at an expenditure of Rs 40.18 lakh and purchase of computers and accessories worth Rs 23.38 lakh. Purchase of breathing apparatus for sewermen in the O & M Cell (water supply and sewerage) for Rs 18.64 lakh and purchase of malathion for fogging machines at a cost of Rs 48.67 lakh were also cleared in the meeting.

The committee accorded its consent to a proposal of the shifting of MC library to the Guru Nanak Dev Bhavan Complex and converting it into a well equipped and high-tech library. The civic body will be provided 7,525 sq feet space in the centrally air-conditioned complex for a consideration of Rs 90.30 lakh and the payment will be made to the Guru Nanak Dev Quincentenary Committee in instalments.