Kanchenjunga Stadium: Where have all the people gone?

Siliguri, March 25: Kanchenjunga Stadium, built in the 1980s to accommodate 35,000 screaming fans feasting their eyes on top-class football, lies strangely silent now, only occasionally hosting a cricket match or a political meeting.

The Nehru Cup, the country’s biggest international football tournament, was held at the stadium in 1988, with players from the Soviet Union, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, China and India gracing its turf. The Soviet Union, which had come with its Olympics team, had lifted the trophy.

In the past two years, however, the stadium has not hosted a single major tie, not even one featuring national-level clubs.

Calcutta giants East Bengal consider Siliguri to be their second home and they were the last big club to play at Kanchenjunga Stadium when they took on Dempo in a national league tie in 2006.

Last year, in December, the Siliguri Mahakuma Krira Parishad organised two consecutive Ranji Trophy cricket matches at the stadium. However, the empty stands proved that the men in white had failed to ignite the passion of the football-loving town.

Apart from this, two major conferences of the CPM-affiliated State Coordination Committee and the Citu, the labour wing of the ruling party, have been held at the stadium in the last couple of months. The turf was dug up to fix bamboo poles and erect dais, inviting the ire of sports-lovers here.

“It seems that one of the finest football stadiums in Bengal has lost its glory completely. The local sports body and Siliguri Municipal Corporation have failed to convince the officials of the football federations to schedule any major football matches here,” said Nantu Pal, a former vice-president of the Krira Parishad.

Mayor Bikash Ghosh, who is also the chief of the stadium committee, sought to allay these fears.

“I have met Utpal Ganguly, the secretary of the Indian Football Association (IFA), early this month and asked him to allow Siliguri to host major football matches. He will visit the town in the first week of April, when we will again appeal to him,” he said.

The IFA is the state football association of Bengal.

Ganguly, however, could not be contacted.

While the wait for big-time football gets longer, the Krira Parishad is all set to organise the Kiranchandra Memorial tournament at the stadium from tomorrow. Siliguri has been hosting this regional football tournament, one of the oldest in north Bengal, since 1969.

The municipal corporation is also hoping to give the stadium a face-lift by introducing floodlights and carrying out some renovation. The mayor said a Rs 2.5-crore proposal for permanent floodlights and a shade over the VIP bloc has been submitted to the state finance department.