Coimbatore: Athletes practising in the city’s renowned Nehru Stadium, have highlighted the woeful state of water facilities and lack of proper sanitation in the stadium.
Coimbatore: Athletes practising in the city’s renowned Nehru Stadium, have highlighted the woeful state of water facilities and lack of proper sanitation in the stadium.
Nehru stadium which has a seating capacity of 30,000 spectators, was constructed in 1971. As many as 500 athletes, who have won medals for the nation, practise in the stadium every day. In spite of it being the only stadium used for sports practice in the city, maintenance work is hardly a priority in the stadium. Owing to this, the number of athletes wishing to enroll for practice at the stadium is on a constant decline. Sources say parents do not wish to send aspiring athletes to the stadium for practice owing to its deplorable facilities.
An athlete who has been practicing in the stadium for years complains that athletes have had to deal with urinary infections owing to poor and irresponsible maintenance of restrooms by authorities.
According to sources, the stadium has a synthetic turf for athletes, which was laid in the year 2008. Since the turf has been damaged, it has become unusable since running on a damaged synthetic turf can be the cause of an injury to athletes. Such injuries have occurred owing to the turf, says the source.
Another major problem in Nehru Stadium is the dressing room facility. There is no proper dressing room for both men and women alike in the stadium. Women athletes change in rest rooms that sometimes do not even have locks on its doors. In spite of repeated complaints, these locks have not been fixed by the concerned authorities.
The DSO in-charge, S Jayachandran, clarified that the proposal to replace the synthetic track had been sent to the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) and a replacement is hoped for, soon. He also reported that the synthetic track should be used by athletes only three times a week on proper spiked shoes but athletes use the turf every day without proper shoes. He also added that the tracks are being repaired once in a year. “We are also taking measures to keep the restrooms clean. Since, events are being conducted throughout the year, we are facing difficulties in maintaining these restrooms but we constantly instruct event organisers to keep them clean,” says the DSO in-charge.
Jayachandran further clarifies, “The Nehru Stadium has four floodlights which are not in regular use by the stadium authorities and yet we paid Rs. 1 lakh as electricity bill, though the usage was just for a month. Event organisers can hereon use the floodlights using their own diesel required for the lights.” He added that athletes requesting authorities to take appropriate action for their problems, should also take the onus on themselves to help maintain the stadium.