Naveen Patnaik reviews infra works at Kalinga Stadium

BHUBANESWAR: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday visited the hockey stadium insider the Kalinga Sports Complex here to inspect the infrastructure augmentation works ahead of the Odisha Men's Hockey World Cup 2018.
Senior officials of the state sports department and state-owned Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco), which is undertaking the infrastructure works briefed Naveen about the ongoing work.
According to official sources, the chief minister expressed his satisfaction on the expedited pace of work and directed to complete as per schedule.
"Reviewed the progress of work at #Kalinga Stadium & happy to see the pace of the beautification and modernization work. I am assured that it will be completed well in time, ensuring a world-class hockey experience during Odisha Men's Hockey World Cup 2018," tweeted Naveen after visiting the stadium.
The chief minister also said that the seating capacity of the hockey stadium has been increased to 15,000 from the existing 5000 which will give an opportunity to more people to watch the matches during the mega sporting event.
The World Cup is scheduled from November 28 to December 16 in which 16 best countries would participate. A grand opening ceremony would be organized on November 27, day before beginning of the matches.
On the infrastructure works, sports secretary Vishal Dev said the Kalinga hockey stadium is fully prepared for hosting the hockey world cup.
"We are quite happy and satisfied with how the infrastructural work is shaping up at the hockey stadium. Apart the new turf being laid at the hockey ground, we have upgraded the flood lights of both the practice and main pitch. We are further giving the entire stadium a face lift by widening the roads, installing a new gate and permanent CCTV cameras from safety point of view," said Dev.
The sports secretary said the aim of the state government is to permeate the image of Odisha globally through the Hockey world cup.
The state government has lined up series of campaigns for the mega event which will begin from next month to create a buzz about the world cup nationwide.
The state government will also publicize about the event at the Hockey women's world cup, which would kick start next month in London.