Kalinga Stadium revs up for all sporting galas

Sandip.Bal@timesgroup.com

The Kalinga Sports Complex is Bhubaneswar’s pride and rightly so. With the approaching Men’s

Hockey World Cup

, the stadium wears a new look. Leaving no stone unturned, the state government has renovated the hockey stadium. It has upgraded the seating arrangement and refurbished the periphery. Host to other prestigious events like Asian

Athletics

Championship and other hockey tourneys — finals of Hockey World League, Champions Trophy Hockey and annual

Hockey India League

in which local team

Kalinga Lancers

took part — the complex also has provisions for hostels where sportspersons stay and get trained. Though officials are tight-lipped about the budget, sources said the initial estimate was around Rs200 crore.

All for the World Cup
The 14th edition of Men’s Hockey World Cup will be held in Bhubaneswar from November 28 to December 16, in which 16 teams will take part. Looking at the grandeur of the event, the sports department has boosted the stadium’s infrastructure by increasing the seating capacity from 7,500 to 15,000. For this, two new galleries were erected on the north and south ends of the stadium. “The stadium work is completed and now we are giving the periphery a complete makeover. The conditioning camp of the Indian team will start shortly here,” said Barija Mohanty, in-charge of the Kalinga Sports Complex.

Infra boost for the surrounding
With less than 75 days left for the sporting gala, the stadium’s surroundings are also taken care of. The approaching roads are widened, entry gates to the stadium expanded and two foot overbridges on the busy Vidyut Marg are under construction. Parking lots are created in the AG Colony and near BDA City Centre. “We have been taking every possible care to make it a grand success. We will also ensure it is comfortable for the huge number of spectators expected. We are also trying to give the city a new look and beautify the stadium and its surroundings for tourists,” said Vishal Dev, sports secretary. Work on providing free Wi-Fi during the World Cup is in progress.

Focus on other sporting facilities
Such efficient renovation work was also carried out last year when the city hosted Asian Athletic Championship. The main stadium got a facelift that time. Keeping in mind the various other sporting activities and national-level events held here, tracks were laid and new grass grown, galleries decorated and surroundings beautified. And all this happened within a record 90 days, inviting praise for the state government. “The sports complex has every kind of arrangement for various sporting events to take place. Students and athletes who stay here use these facilities to train for the national and international events,” said the complex in-charge.

Among its various other facilities, the complex already got a revamped swimming pool after a portion of it was used to build a gallery for the hockey stadium. Other arrangements include a shooting range adjacent to the hockey stadium, courts for volley ball, basketball, badminton and lawn

tennis

,

football

tournament taking place in the main stadium and practice ground for athletes and footballers. Even children get to learn karate, skating, rock climbing and other such sports here. “It’s good that all the facilities are available in one place. We utilise them to train the youngsters,” said Partha Sarathi, a skating coach.

FACILITIES GALORE

• Main athletics stadium
• A practice stadium
• Hard and clay tennis court
• Badminton court
• Swimming pool
• Shooting range
• Volley ball court
• Basketball court
• Hockey stadium and practice turf
• Mountain climbing wall
• Sports hostel

Sandip.Bal@timesgroup.com
(Photos: Subhranshu Mohapatra)