A section of the galleries at the Khuman Lampak Sports Complex in Imphal

Imphal, Nov. 7: The Manipur sports and youth affairs department has decided to move the 12th Finance Commission for augmenting existing sports infrastructure in the state as well as develop new facilities at the Khuman Lampak Sports Complex here.

A highly-placed source said the state sports and youth affairs department has proposed to create a number of new facilities in the wake of Manipur players’ fine achievements at various levels.

The northeastern state has contributed handsomely in India’s second-place finish at the Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad last month.

The proposal includes setting up a Rs 4-crore multipurpose training hall for taekwondo, karate, judo and weightlifting. The hall will also be used for hosting youth programmes, one of the sources said.

The department has also mooted building a cricket ground with a pavilion.

The development of the ground, including wire-net fencing, would cost Rs 46.83 lakh, while the department has earmarked Rs 1.72 crore for the pavilion with a 3,000-capacity seating gallery.

Though Manipur has yet to make it big in the cricket arena, the game is picking up in the state. The department argued that right infrastructure and scientific training would help the state catch up with the rest of the country.

There has also been provision in the proposal to build a swimming pool for toddlers at a cost of Rs 1.52 crore.

The source said the pool is essential since the existing ones do not have any shallow end to train the beginners.

The sports department has planned to convert the first floor of the Main Indoor Stadium at Khuman Lampak into rooms for technical sessions, replete with modern audio-visual aids, and for housing delegates. The whole exercise would cost an estimated amount of Rs 35 lakh.

The 11th Finance Commission had recommended that Rs 2 crore be spent for the modernisation and expansion of the Khuman Lampak complex. The money helped the department take up construction of an indoor hall for fencing, two tennis courts, two beach volleyball courts, changing rooms for rowers and convert the ground floor rooms into training halls during state and national-level competitions.

The state-of-the-art Khuman Lampak complex, built for the Manipur National Games in 1999, has a Rs 19.99-crore 20,000-seater main stadium with an eight-lane synthetic track. It has a 4,000-seater indoor hall with asynthetic surface, a 4,500-seater astroturf hockey stadium, a Rs 7.80-crore velodrome and two boxing arenas.

The complex has a Rs 1.28-crore shooting range for 10m, 25m and 50m events, a Rs 7.41-crore aquatic centre for swimming events, a rowing canal and practice grounds for hockey, football, basketball and volleyball. The 3,000-capacity Kangshang Hall and two 100-bedded sports hostels are also part of the sprawling complex.

The source said the existing facilities were not enough to cater to the need of sportspersons, especially the large number of youngsters who turn up for training at a very tender age.

This has been one of the prime reasons that prompted the department to prepare a proposal for building new infrastructure with finances earmarked by the 12th Finance Commission, the source said.

The state government has initiated a number of moves for creating facilities at the district level and ease pressure on the Khuman Lampak.

The government has also directed all the sports associations to avail of the Centre’s financial assistance for building facilities and acquiring international-standard equipment, the source added.