According to inside sources, political rivalry between ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the main reason for which the construction of yet another hockey stadium in Rourkela was taken.

“The State Government decided to construct a new hockey stadium as it did not get commitment of support from Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), the owner of the Biju Patnaik Hockey Stadium. Since, RSP is under the control of Ministry of Steel & Mines, headed by Odisha Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the State Government did not believe it would get the much needed control over the stadium,’’ said an insider.

As things stand now, contruction of a new hockehy stadium woluld involve huge investment without desired return. And the investment could be an unnecessary burden on the tax-payers of the state. On the top of it, completing the construction of the new stadium within two years would be a tough task.

Another worrying factor is that the second hockey stadium will be the third new sports complex in Rourkela. At present, the work of Birsa Munda Multi-purpose Stadium and Biju Patnaik Indoor Stadium near Hockey Chowk at Panposh is going on at a fast pace.

Now the question is: why the State Government keen to equipped Rourkela with three new sports complexes when many cities of the State are still lacking even one decent stadium of their own? Should not the benefit of infrastructure development in sports be extended to all parts of the State instead of one particular city?

There are definitely some hidden reasons behind such a move and it is expected that these secrets will come to the fore in course of time. Meanwhile, we present here some data on the history and development of stadiums in Rourkela.

BIJU PATNAIK HOCKEY STADIUM: This stadium was constructed and is being maintained by Steel Authorith of India Limited (SAIL). It is said that the stadium came into existence due to initiatives taken by Late Bipin Behari Panda and Michael Kindo in early 90s.

Biju Patnaik Hockey Stadium has an AstroTurf and it was host to World Hockey Junior World Cup. It has also been a training centre to most of the international hockey players of Odisha in general and Sundargarh district in particular. Situated at the heart of the city (Sector 5 and 6), the stadium has been the home of the office of the DGM (Sports) of Rourkela Steel Plant, the highest body of SAIL, RSP.

Also located within the campus of this stadium is the SAIL Hockey Academy which has been nurturing budding hockey talents of Sundergarh district. On 10 December 2016, Vice-President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari inaugurated Biju Patnaik Rural Hockey Championship at Biju Patnaik Hockey Stadium and over 1500 teams from Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand took part.

Biju Patnaik Hockey Stadium was earlier identified as the Rourkela venue for the 2023 Hockey World Cup. Keeping this in mind it had been planned to equipped the stadium with an astro-turf practice ground, floodlights, upgraded changing rooms for players and officials and extra parking space. The seating capacity was likely to be doubled from the existing 15,000.

BIRSA MUNDA MULTI-PURPOSE STADIUM: After Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik laid the foundation stone of Birsa Munda stadium on November 4, 2018, Rourkela Smart City Limited (RSCL) took up the project. Located in the heart of the city, it is being redeveloped over 10.72 acre.

The design, prepared by Tata Consulting Engineers Ltd (TCE) to redevelop the existing stadium as a multi-purpose sports complex, encompasses a football stadium of national standard along with provisioning of athletics, swimming and Multi Level Car Parking (MLCP) facility with commercial spaces facilities.

At the centre of the complex, a natural grass field in accordance with international standard and necessary water drainage system would be prepared. The stadium shall have flood light facilities to facilitate night matches.

The main structure in the west will have 2951 seating capacity for general public and VIPs with cover. There will be three more galleries. The north gallery will have 1406 seats, south 1404 seats and east 4779 seats. Around the football ground, an eight-lane synthetic track would be laid for athletics.

It will have an administration office, cafeteria, changing room for players along with gymnasium and other supporting facilities. In the MLCP building, three floors would be used for car parking to accommodate 181 cars, while third and fourth floors will be meant for commercial activities.

A swimming pool of national standard (50 meter x 20 meter of 8 lanes) will also be built in the complex. The Rs 124-crore project is expected to be completed by December, 2021. The URC Construction (P) Ltd, Chennai, which is executing the work, will take care of maintenance for 5 years.

Despite the disturbances caused by COVID-19 pandemic, authorities are confident that work would be completed before the scheduled time. The concrete work of basement, ground floor and first floor of MLCP and more than 60% of foundation work of galleries have been completed.

BIJU PATNAIK INDOOR STADIUM: Ccoming up on two acre of land, this stadium will have three badminton courts of national standard with 350 sitting capacity for spectators. It could be used for table tennis also. Outside the hall a tennis court and volleyball court would also be prepared.

It would be fitted with high quality lighting arrangement and rain harvesting system. Solar panel would be fixed at roof top to make it energy self-sufficient. The construction of Rs. 9.32-crore stadium is expected to be completed by January 2021.

ISPAT STADIUM: This is a cricket stadium, which is also used for organizing football, and other sports events. Opened in 1969, Ispat Stadium hosted first hosted a Ranji Trophy matches between Odisha and Bihar in December 1969.

So far, the stadium has hosted 13 First-class (Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy), three List A (Deodhar Trophy) and one Youth One-Day International (India Under-19 vs Pakistan Under-19) matches.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOTO: File photos of Biju Patnaik Hockey Stadium in Rourkela.