The wait for the city’s athletes to train at their home ground at the Guru Nanak Stadium has been prolonged as the inauguration of the revamped track and field here has been pushed to another date.
After missing two earlier deadlines, it was supposed to be inaugurated on March 3 by chief minister Bhagwant Mann, according to superintending engineer Sanjay Kanwar, who heads the Smart City project under which the revamp is being carried out.
The revamp project, worth ₹27 crore, was announced in February 2023 and was completed in a year after missing two deadlines. Expected to be completed in August 2023, the deadline was pushed to December due to monsoons and further pushed to February citing harsh winter conditions.
Superintending engineer municipal corporation, Sanjay Kanwar, said “The CM was initially supposed to handover the stadium to the people on 3 March.”
Confirming that the revamp of the Guru Nanak Stadium was complete, Kanwar said that the new inauguration date was not decided.
Sanjeev Sharma, athletics coach at the stadium, said that the athletes were really happy to get after a long wait, they will train at their revamped home ground again.
{{/usCountry}}Sanjeev Sharma, athletics coach at the stadium, said that the athletes were really happy to get after a long wait, they will train at their revamped home ground again.
{{/usCountry}}Recollecting the troubles faced by the athletes in the absence of the stadium, he said, “The players had to train at the Government College and PAU grounds, and when a competition approached, they even had to go to Jalandhar.”
Although he lamented the delay, he said, “The delay in inauguration of the stadium has given us a time window to complete some additional tasks, like laying tiles till the boundary to improve the longevity of the track.”
Aryan Saini, a national-level athlete, who has been connected with the stadium for many years now, said, “We are excited to get back our ground. I have seen the new track and it is of high quality. This would add to our preparations.”