West Bengal gets new stadium

Upali Rupasinghe

NEW STADIUM: West Bengal is all set to get its second cricket stadium after Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

The project soon to get under way in Haldia comes nearly 141 years after Eden came into being. The proposed stadium will be of global standards. It will have a seating capacity of 35,000 as well as facilities to hold day/night international matches. The arena is billed as part of a Indian rupees 634 million international sports city complex, conceived by Haldia Development Authority (HDA). The complex will come up on a 40-acre tract at Barghasipur on National Highway 41.

The stadium to be set up over 37,446 square metres will have an electronic scoreboard, mast-lights, 20 stands, dressing rooms of international standards, state-of-the-art security features, rooms for service storage and administrative activities, parking bays and media centre of international standards.

The stadium apart, the sports complex will have two football practice grounds; an indoor stadium, a sports academy, cineplex, a shopping mall and a corporate centre. The Sports Academy, encompassing an area of about 4,600 square metres will have an open air swimming pool, a 100-bed youth hostel, a sports medicine centre, practice grounds and a hig-tech fitness centre.

According to HDA Chairman Lakshaman Seth, the work on the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2007. (New Delhi)