A Polytan technical expert at the Indira Gandhi stadium on Thursday. Picture by UB Photos

Guwahati, May 4: The National Games Secretariat (NGS) is apprehending another delay in infrastructure development for the 33rd National Games with an NGO filing a public interest litigation in the Gauhati High Court over the quality of synthetic track used in the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium here.

Barnaddi Grammya Unnayan Samiti has moved the court alleging that NGS used inferior quality materials. The NGO has alleged that the games secretariat had not used the best quality material approved by its purchase committee. The PIL will come up for hearing in court tomorrow. The petitioners could not be contacted.

According to the PIL, the purchase committee of the NGS had approved Polytan PUR as the material for the track. However, NGS has used Polytan M, which is inferior in quality. The NGS, however, claimed that both the materials had been approved by the purchase committee and Polytan M was preferred because it could be used for practice as well as for competition.

Both the materials are produced by German manufacturer M/s Polytan GMBH and have been approved by the International Association of Athletic Federation as the top two qualities of track material for tropical climate. Both the surfaces are not recommended for temperature below 10 degrees Celsius and above 40 degrees Celsius.

?In the present circumstances, if the court rules for a stay in the work, a delay in completion of the track is imminent. This could lead to further postponement of the National Games, for which the state may have to fork out a hefty penalty of Rs 1 crore,? an official in the NGS said.

?It is a fact that Polytan M is less expensive than Polytan PUR. But the former was found economically viable and is recommended by the international body for durability under our climatic conditions,? he added.

?Besides, since we are going to have only one infrastructure for the entire state, we will have to use it both for competition as well as for the practice for which Polytan PUR is neither recommended nor affordable. Hence, the NGS decided to go for Polytan M that suits our purpose,? the official added.

On the other hand, the Assam Athletic Association (AAA), too, has approved of the material used.

?Both products are internationally used and acclaimed. Polytan PUR is expensive so naturally its quality is superior. Though we have not been informed about what material is being used, we have gathered from various sources that Polytan M is being used,? AAA secretary Sarif Ullah told The Telegraph.

Had the AAA or the federation concerned been taken into confidence when the purchase committee scrutinised the bids, the present situation could have been avoided. Earlier, several months were lost in the Games Village project due to a legal tangle with a Calcutta consortium.

Senior athletic federation office-bearer Ravinder Choudhury, who had been invited to inspect the project, visited the infrastructure twice and expressed satisfaction.

Grade tests

Altogether 11 karatekas and seven kickboxers have qualified in the grade tests, conducted by the Muay Thai Association, Assam, in Guwahati on Monday.

In the Okinawan Shorin Ryu karate grade test, Arundhotu Bhagawati, Rima Trishna Haloi, Sanjeeb Sarmah, Atul Injal, Dhemjyoti Baruah, Satya Deep Das, Parineeta Bhagawati, Pinky Roy, Rabi Roy, Bidisha Sarma and Aditya K. Nath have qualified.

Tipu Das, Rabi Roy, Prince Roy, Arjun Misra, Satya Deep Das, Aditya K. Nath and Ajmer Singh have qualified in the kickboxing grade tests.