BHUBANESWAR: With few weeks left for the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup, the organising committee reviewed the preparations and directed that all works for the upgradation and beautification of the two host cities - Bhubaneswar and Rourkela - should be completed at the earliest.
Stadium readiness, connectivity, hospitality, community outreach, safety and security, traffic and crowd management, World Cup celebrations and medical arrangements for the mega event were reviewed. The department of Sports and Youth Services has allocated a budget of Rs 75 crore for the World Cup.
The FIH has already certified the four turfs, two at Kalinga stadium which were recently re-laid and the two new turfs (main and practice) laid at the Birsa Munda hockey stadium. The lighting systems have also been made operational in both the stadiums with certification.
The facilities for the teams at Bhubaneswar and Rourkela were reviewed. The teams are being provided dedicated flights for their movement between Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. The meeting was informed that commercial flights to Rourkela are expected to be started soon after the necessary permissions.
Besides, Mo Bus services in Rourkela will be operational from January and the services in Bhubaneswar are being augmented. It was decided that the spectators with match day tickets will be allowed Mo Bus travel free-of-cost. The security arrangements and traffic and parking management was discussed in detail to ensure a safe, secured and smooth experience for the spectators. The World Cup’s inauguration ceremony in Cuttack on January 11 too was reviewed in detail.
Secretary to the chief minister VK Pandian conveyed the direction of the CM that the celebrations will have to be organised in all the districts in a grand manner involving the communities, schools and colleges.