Officials check soil at Berhampur Stadium. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, July 8: The state department of sports and youth services has initiated steps for infrastructure development of Berhampur Stadium. Renovation work at the stadium, which will start in November, is expected to be completed within four months.

No sports activities would be allowed inside the stadium during these four months of renovation. “A water sump with a capacity of 4-lakh gallon will be constructed and grass will be raised in the entire field after replacing the soil,” said district sports officer Akshaya Kumar Patnaik.

“As the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) is planning to organise the Ranji Trophy cricket matches here in near future, we are gearing up to make the stadium’s cricket pitch suitable for the event,” he said.

The process of renovation of the stadium got a fillip after the OCA deputed its chief curator Pankaj Kumar Patnaik and his assistant Suto Ghosh to this town to visit the stadium and give their opinion to the revenue divisional commissioner of the southern division, Laxmi Narayan Nayak, on its condition.

The earlier proposal to construct an overhead water tank with a 2-lakh gallon capacity and a tower for it at a cost of Rs 30 lakh has now been cancelled. The two curators, who visited the stadium, insisted for construction of a sump with a capacity of 4-lakh gallon water instead of the previous plan of construction of a 2-lakh gallon capacity tank.

Construction of a bigger sump fitted with a motor was the best method to pump out water for sprinkling spray on grass, they said.

The Rs 50-lakh development plan of Berhampur Stadium, which was made earlier, has also been revised now. A committee, comprising a curator of the OCA and two executive engineers of the public health and public works departments, has been empowered to take a decision on the infrastructure development. They are expected to submit a revised estimate soon.

“Berhampur Stadium is a major venue of sports activities throughout the year. There is also a sports hostel in this stadium which houses 47 sportsmen from different parts of the state to train them in basketball, volleyball and weightlifting. Though we accommodate only boys for basketball and volleyball training, there are some girls in the weightlifting section,” said Patnaik.

Ganjam District Cricket Association (GDCA) president Ramesh Patra thanked the authorities for their efforts to renovate the stadium’s infrastructure.