LARKANA: The construction of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Stadium, Larkana, despite passage of nine years, has still not been completed.
The foundation stone of the stadium was laid down by Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto on 29 May 1966 when he was the foreign minister of Pakistan. At that time, the stadium was named Municipal Stadium. The stadium is spread over 12 acres of land.
Reliable sources said that the stadium’s design had been changed three times during last nine years. In 2008 when Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was ruling at the federal level, it was decided to construct the stadium afresh at the cost of Rs158 million. When Muhammad Ali Shah was the provincial minister for sports, the contract was awarded to a contractor. According to the approved PC-1, a cricket ground, an athletic track, a badminton court and other grounds were to be constructed in the stadium.
Construction of the athletic court was finished quite early but the rest of the project was held back from finishing due to funds not being released by the provincial government. Reports reveal that the project was later handed to inexperienced contractors who filled the prepared athletic ground along with the parts of site that needed earth filling.
The new contractors also shifted the pavilion, with a space of about 5000 people, to the north side. Despite availability of drinking water underground, an underground water tank was constructed. A sewage channel built alongside the boundary wall of the stadium led to the destruction of grass which was imported from Dacca five years ago.
Despite several matches of hockey and football being organized here, the stadium still awaits completion. A large number of citizens use the stadium during evenings to play various sports since it is located at a central place of the city.
The spaces meant for the construction of athletic track, cricket pitch and badminton court and the plantation of grass, have been occupied by land grabbers who have gone on to construct illegally on the site, facing little resistance from concerned authorities.
Works & Services Department Executive Engineer Ghulam Abbas Soomro told newsmen that work had not been completed due to non-provision of required funds. “If allocated budget is released, then it will be completed up to June 2018,” he said.
He further said, “Fifteen million rupees were spent on athletic track which was filled with earth later”, adding that he was not posted here during the unfortunate incident. He said they were trying to complete new pavilion in time if funds were received.
Shaheed Benazir Bhutto addressed her first public gathering here after her return from self-exile in 1993 and later came here again four days before here martyrdom. She addressed the people of Larkana on December 23, 2007, which subsequently turned out to be her last address to her voters and supporters.
