Covid-19 update: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to serve as quarantine facility

The sports ministry has already said that SAI centres across the country would be made available for use by the health ministry as is mandated by the Disaster Management Policy.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at the heart of the national capital here is being transformed into a quarantine facility in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The order to take over the stadium from the Sports Authority of India was sent on Monday by Harleen Kaur, District Magistrate, Chairperson DDMA of South East Delhi.

The order to take over the stadium from the Sports Authority of India was sent on Monday by Harleen Kaur, District Magistrate, Chairperson DDMA of South East Delhi. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

“..it has been considered necessary to requisite premises/building of Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium Complex, Lodhi Road, under the provisions of Section 34 of DM Act-2005 (Disaster Management) for utilizing the same for the purpose of creating quarantine facility to house the persons/people,” Kaur wrote in a letter to Sports Authority of India, secretary.

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Kaur requested that the stadium be handed over immediately to the District Administration South East.

The JLN stadium has a 200-bed hostel and there are two academies—pole vault and sprint—in the premises. The hostel and the academies are currently shut.

There are also SAI and Income Tax department offices inside the campus.

“There are many offices running at JLN Stadium premises. If they want to take over the entire stadium, it will take some time to shift operations. The hostel can be taken over immediately,” a SAI official said.

The sports ministry has already said that SAI centres across the country would be made available for use by the health ministry as is mandated by the Disaster Management Policy.

The National Boxing Centre in Rohtak is another centre that has been handed over to the district administration, besides a 120-bed facility earmarked at the National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala, for the purpose.