CHANDIGARH, May 26: The Sector 10 Skating Ring, which was renovated last year, is injury prone - courtesy Chandigarh Sports Department and Engineering Department. The Ring, which had wooden flooring was replaced by kota stone. However, the whole surface has become uneven as well as slippery.The officials of both the departments are passing the buck while the players are at the receiving end, particularly the beginners.An approximate amount of Rs 5 lakh was sanctioned by the Chandigarh Sports Council in November '96 for relaying of the kota stone and the construction work was completed last year. But barely after a month of relaying of the tiles of kota stone, a portion of the Ring was again replaced by new titles, which gave ample proof of the fact that the two departments lacked the technical know how to relaying the flooring at the Ring. ``Though the surface is fast, but the titles used are of sub-standard quality. That is why the surface is uneven,'' said a player for reason of anonymity.
The officials of the engineering department differ with those of the sports department regarding the smoothness of the surface. ``The sports department never knew the exact specification regarding the smoothness of the surface, said HS Brar of the Engineering Department. He added, ``Since the Sports Department could not provide us adequate data regarding the degree of smoothness we had to depend on other sources to give finishing touches to the flooring.''
On the other hand, the officials of the Sports Department claim that they had appraised the engineering department about the shortcomings. ``We had written an application about the condition of the Ring,'' said the coach at the Ring. The manager at the Ring, however, refused to comment on the issue. ``I cannot talk on the subject,'' said Inder Pal Singh, who is also the assistant secretary in the Chandigarh Sports Council. JPS Sidhu, Joint Director Sports was not available for comments. Earlier, the Sports Department had also constituted a committee to look into the state of affair but the outcome is still unknown.
The Engineering Department officials deny having received any complaint either from the Sports Department or the players in the recent past. ``The Skating Ring is in excellent condition,'' said a spokesman of the department. Meanwhile, soon after the renovation of the Ring, the Sports Department made helmet and knee pads compulsory for all trainees at the Ring. It is a different matter, though, that it remained only on papers.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
