‘Poor works’ in hockey WC projects: Demand for probe gains momentum
ROURKELA: The collapse of the newly-constructed wall of the beautification block near Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium (BMHS) on Wednesday night has intensified the demand for high-level inquiry into poor quality work in the developmental projects taken up for the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup (HWC) 2023.
Panposh organisational district president of BJP Latika Patnaik said the party would demand from the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to conduct a high-level inquiry into the matter as major expenditures were carried out by the Rourkela Smart City Ltd (RSCL) and Sundargarh District Mineral Foundation (DMF).
She pointed out that none of the projects completed over the past two years has any display board or plaque detailing vital information on project cost, execution agency, funding source and work specifications for public consumption.
“The RSCL chief executive officer and RMC commissioner Subhankar Mohapatra continue to be evasive on sharing information on different projects,” she alleged. Meanwhile, Birmitrapur MLA Shankar Oram said around Rs 1,600-Rs 1,700 crore was spent for associated infrastructure development and beautification works for the HWC 2023 including Rs 940 crore from the RSCL but there is still no clarity on the amount that was received from the DMF and other sources.
“The Sports department had in writing said that Rs 136 crore was provided from DMF for the main structure of the BMHS but it is understood that a total of Rs 513 crore got spent for the entire BMHS complex including the Hockey World Cup village and sources of rest funding are not made available,” he said.
Meanwhile, BJP MP from Sundargarh and former Union minister Jual Oram, too, demanded a proper inquiry into the allegations. Besides, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) general secretary Biren Senapati said the Congress has been consistently protesting and seeking inquiry into allegations of corruption as newly constructed roads, pavements and other structures cave in every other day.
“A delegation of Rourkela district Congress committee will visit the stadium on Saturday to take stock of the situation. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had taken pride that the world’s largest stadium, BMHS, was constructed in a record time of 15 months and so he owes an explanation to the people,” he added.
Meanwhile, administrative sources attributed the damage to hasty works done under pressure.