Players are forced to train on just two of the six courts at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar and (right) a signboard saying that work was to be completed by the end of March. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, June 28: Five months after the state sports and youth services department began converting four of six concrete tennis courts at Kalinga Stadium into synthetic ones, the work is far from complete.

The new turf would have made training for national events simpler.

The authorities have installed a board that says the work was to be completed by the end of March. But after that deadline has been missed, an official said work would be over by the end of next month.

“If rain does not hamper the work, the synthetic courts should be ready by the end of July,” said executive engineer (the roads and buildings division), division III, P. Nayak.

The synthetic floors will be laid for an estimated Rs 70 lakh. In the two stage process, the playing area will first be concretised and then a synthetic surface will be laid. The concretisation is nearly complete but a lot remains to be done.

With work on at four of the concrete courts, players are forced to train on the remaining two. About 100 players, including beginners, are practising on the two courts in turns, which makes it difficult for them to train properly.

The coaches too are finding it difficult to cope with the shortage of courts. “As only two courts are available for training, many of the beginners are skipping practice. We’ve been trying to cope by allowing the players to use the courts by turns, but it’s very difficult because they are getting less practice time,” said tennis coach, Ajay Kumar Nishank

Four clay courts at the stadium are used exclusively by bureaucrats and businessmen, who claim that these courts were made using their money and that they also fund their maintenance. Players are not allowed to use these courts.

The players also apprehend a further delay in construction because of the monsoon. “The construction has already been delayed and rains could delay it further,” said Shruti, a beginner.

An official of the state sports and youth services department said the department had entrusted the job to the roads and buildings division of the public works department. “As the work needs technical expertise, we had entrusted the job to the roads and buildings division,” said under secretary of the department S. Mohanty.

Sources said the delay was mainly due to the prolonged tendering process. The roads and buildings division had floated separate tenders for concrete work and to lay the synthetic surface whereas both tenders could have been called at the same time. A roads and buildings division official, however, said the work would be completed soon.