Baramulla, Mar 2: More than 15 years after its announcement, the construction of the pavilion at the General Bipin Rawat Stadium in Baramulla remains incomplete, with only partial underground concrete work completed and the site now abandoned.
Officials said the project was initiated around 15 years ago but has not progressed beyond the initial stage.
“So far, only the underground concrete structure has been completed. At present, the project is unattended,” an official said.
A former official of the Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council said the project was sanctioned during the tenure of former Deputy Commissioner Baramulla, Lateef-uz-Zaman Deva.
“An amount of Rs 50 lakh was released initially, with assurances that the remaining funds would be arranged by the administration,” the official said.
The execution of the project was assigned to the Roads and Buildings Department, and an advance of Rs 50 lakh was released. Tenders were floated and work commenced thereafter.
“The total estimated cost of the pavilion was Rs 1.90 crore, but work worth only about Rs 28 lakh was executed before construction was halted,” the official said, alleging that the department later adopted a “lethargic approach” towards completing the project.
He added that the Sports Council repeatedly wrote to the R&B department seeking resumption of work, but received no response.
Subsequently, the Sports Council sought the project’s design and blueprint with the intention of floating fresh tenders.
“However, there was no cooperation from the R&B department, and as a result, the project has remained stalled for years,” the official said.
Talking to Greater Kashmir, former IAS officer Lateef U Zaman Deva who served as Deputy Commissioner Baramulla during 2008-10 said the decision to construct pavilion at the erstwhile Jhelum stadium was taken to do away with disruptions faced by the Government Degree College (GDC) Baramulla as Prof Showkat Ali stadium would remain occupied every day with events.
“Prof Showkat Ali stadium belongs to GDC Baramulla. So we decided to develop that Jhelum (Bipin Rawat) Stadium,” he said.
He said during financial year 2009-2010 an amount of Rs 2.5 Crores were provided by the then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
“DC was authorised to utilise the funds as per the requirement and out of that amount, some funds were earmarked for Jhelum stadium,” he informed Greater Kashmir.
District Manager of the J&K Sports Council in Baramulla, Showkat Ahmad, confirmed that the project has been defunct for nearly 15 years.
“There are certain legal issues involved. Several meetings were held with the R&B department during the tenure of former Deputy Commissioner Minga Sherpa, but no breakthrough was achieved,” he said.
Executive Engineer, R&B Department Baramulla, Mohammad Younis Shah, said he had recently taken charge and would look into the matter.
“I am not fully aware of the project details yet. I will ascertain the facts and examine why the work has not been completed,” he said.
