Dhanbad: Seven years from 2011 National Games, a squash court developed on District Board land has become a temporary men's urinal.
Splitting images of each other, two squash courts, one on IIT(ISM) premises and one on District Board land, were built at a cost of Rs 53 lakh each. Built by Mumbai's Zyrex Enterprises, each had a size of 32 feet by 21 feet, a seating capacity of 80 people, a changing room for boys and girls, an attached toilet and two separate toilets.
While IIT(ISM) students play the elite game regularly on their court looked after by the college's sports department, the one on District Board land, flanking Golf Ground, has no civic guardian. So, its boundary wall on the back has collapsed, plaster peels from the ceiling and most chairs and electrical appliances, including lights and fans, are long gone. People urinate here with impunity despite the noise of the Swachh Abhiyan.
The problems of the District Board squash court started in 2011 itself, when it was sealed off on a high court order in March that year along with 84 other buildings all on district board land in the wake of a PIL that said land had been subsidised for these structures who however were engaged in commercial activities and not public welfare.
The squash court however was later opened in January 2012 by then DC Sunil Kumar Barnwal when the high court granted it permission after hearing the facility was not used for any commercial activity. But, in April that year, most of the furniture and all electrical appliances were stolen from the squash court making it useless. Dhanbad Zila Sanskritik and Krida Parishad, which had received a "verbal order" from the district administration to restart the squash court, never got a written order. Nor was the electricity connection restored.
Asked on Monday, secretary of Dhanbad Zila Sanskritik and Krida Parishad Gopal Ji said, "The squash court was never handed over to the us in writing."
Last month, Union Club approached District Board with a plan to take over the squash court. The District Board formed a committee led by chairman Robin Gorain and members such as district engineer Jitendra Paswan to mull the proposal. The committee has not yet handed a report.
"Sad waste of resources," Abhishek Pandey, coach of IIT(ISM) squash court and also secretary of district squash and racquet association, said.