POKHARA, March 11: Minister of Youth and Sports Jagat Bahadur Bishwakarma laid the foundation for a multi-purpose stadium with the capacity of 18,500, in Pokhara on Sunday. An advanced football ground will be its main attraction.
The commencement of the construction work was delayed by two months. However, the minister assured that the project will be completed on time. “We have the responsibility to host South Asian Games (SAG), which is a matter of our national prestige. I am sure that construction will be completed on time.”
The 2019 SAG is a major multi-sport event which was originally slated to be held from March 9 to 18 in Kathmandu and Pokhara. It is now postponed for September this year. Pokhara Stadium will host the men’s football. The stadium is currently being reconstructed and is expected to be ready before the commencement of SAG.
The minister stated that the stadium was being made with state-of-the-art facilities, which would help Pokhara develop as a city of sports tourism.
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Also speaking on the occasion, member secretary of National Sports Council Keshav Kumar Bista stressed on the need to follow new master plan of the project to ensure that modern standards are met.
“We need to make sure that the master plan meets latest standards. Even if it takes 10-15 years to complete, the stadium needs to meet all the requirements of the international arena.”
Likewise, he also assured that the football ground will be completed within the timeline to host the SAG games.
“The stadium with 18,500 seats will be Nepal’s biggest and most advanced sports facility. It can be expanded to 30,000 seats in future,” Bista said. The estimated total cost of the stadium is Rs 1.3 billion.
Anup Acharya, representative of Great Sports and MA Construction (the Indian construction group heading the stadium project), stated that ground construction will be completed within the stipulated timeframe, provided that there were no technical or natural obstructions.
The company has claimed that steel modular system was being used in the stadium, for the first time in the country. Synthetic track and steel structures will be imported from Germany and France respectively.
The president of Paschimanchal Sports Development Committee Sampanna Shrestha urged all concerned to not create any obstruction during the construction of the stadium.
“Every association and council should help on their parts to complete this project, which will help establish Pokhara and the entire Gandaki province as a center of sports tourism in future. Sports lover should press concerned officials for timely completion of the project.”
Archery covered hall and lawn tennis courts are also being constructed targeting the SAG games. However, construction of cricket ground, swimming pool, tracks, marshal art covered hall, and other facilities are yet to be started.
Total Rs 150 million has been allocated for the multi-purpose covered hall, Rs 20 million for archery arena, Rs 25 million for tennis hard court, clay court and changing room along with parapet, Rs 35 million for badminton covered hall, Rs 12.5 million for volleyball training area, and Rs 1 million for handball ground.
