Patna, Jan. 6: Barely 44 days are left for the Bihar Sthapna Divas 1st World Cup Kabaddi Championship for Women but 25 per cent construction work is yet to be over at its venue — Kankerbagh Indoor Stadium.

The state government, as part of the Bihar centenary year celebrations, will host the championship at Kankerbagh Indoor Stadium, a part of the 15-acre Kankerbagh sports complex, between March 1 and 4. Teams from 14 countries are slated to take part.

The sluggish pace of construction work has raised the spectre of a deadline miss.

The Telegraph today visited the indoor stadium to check out the ground situation and found the turf not ready, fire-fighting equipment yet to be installed and work on electrical wiring, boundary walls and roads incomplete, triggering questions on the seriousness on the part of officials and the firms assigned with the construction.

Jitendra Kumar, a worker laying tiles, said: “Laying of tiles on the inner court started just last week. It would take at least one-and-a-half months to complete the task. Thereafter, wooden and rubber layers need to be laid. At this speed of construction, it would take at least three months to finish the work.”

With 75 per cent of the work completed in almost five years, Jitendra’s apprehension about missing the deadline can come true.

A senior official of the building construction department, the executing agency, said: “The fire-fighting system is yet to be installed at the indoor stadium. All indoor stadiums nowadays have fire-fighting equipment like fire detection/alarm and fire-fighting/control systems.”

Water and gas pipes run parallel through the stadium. Installation of the central air-conditioning system and lighting work are pending.

Even sports department officials are apprehensive about the timely completion of the stadium. C. Lalsota, the principal secretary of art, culture and youths affairs department, said: “The slow pace of construction at the indoor stadium has also worried the department but engineers have assured us that it would be complete by March.”

On December 5, during his visit to the Kankerbagh Sports Complex, chief minister Nitish Kumar had directed the officials to speed up the construction work.

Work at the hostels for sportspersons and coaches, situated adjacent to the indoor stadium, was found to be almost complete with electric wiring and doors being installed.

The foundation stone for the stadium, with an initial projected outlay of Rs 6 crore, was laid in 1984. Work finally began in 2007 with an increased outlay of Rs 19 crore. But repeated delays have led to a release of Rs 39.05 crore to the building construction department for the construction. The site for the complex earlier belonged to the housing board.