After Player’s Statue, Boundary Wall Of Hockey Training Centre In Odisha’s Sundargarh Collapses

Rourkela: A major portion of the newly-built boundary wall of the under-construction hockey training centre (HTC) at Bhalulata in Odisha’s Sundargarh district collapsed following a mild nor’wester.

After the incident that took place at Bhalulata in Bisra block came to light on Wednesday, local villagers claimed that the wall collapsed due to sub-standard construction work.

Taking a dig at the BJD government, BJP MLA from Birmitrapur and member of the district mineral foundation (DMF) Shankar Oram said the HTC at Bhalulata is being constructed by the IDCO at a cost of around Rs 8 crore.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had in November 2018 announced the decision to set up HTCs with astroturf in all 17 blocks of Sundargarh district for the promotion of hockey.

The district administration sanctioned funds from Sundargarh DMF for the construction of the hockey training centres flouting norms. Work started around two years ago. In some blocks, HTCs have been completed while in others, construction work is in different stages,” Oram was quoted by TNIE as saying.

In the Birmitrapur Assembly constituency, one HTC each in Bisra, Nuagaon and Kuanrmunda blocks are under construction. Ignoring all objections, contractors from outside were roped in and work orders handed over in a whimsical manner, he alleged, adding that the work is not being monitored.

Complaints of sub-standard work as well as poor quality of the astroturf were ignored. The collapse of the newly-erected boundary wall proves that the quality of work is poor, he claimed.

The incident came barely ten days after the memorial statute of a hockey player between Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium and Rourkela airport had collapsed under similar circumstances. The MLA said the Chief Minister should take note of the sub-standard quality of work on projects taken up before the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023.

Senior officials were not immediately available to comment on the incident.