Tattered roads near Aishbagh forces Bhopal Hockey Association to put off Obaidullah Cup

BHOPAL: Here is a shocker. Famed all-India Obaidullah Gold Cup hockey tournament, synonymous with Bhopal, the nursery of hockey, has been postponed for a reason bordering on bizarre-bad condition of roads around venue Aishbagh stadium. Conscious of the fact that bad roads would create poor image on minds of participating teams, Bhopal Hockey Association (BHA), was forced to postpone the 67th edition of tournament, which was scheduled to start from August 10.
Organizers said the association postponed tournament as teams from outside Bhopal would have gone back with impression about Bhopal. Governor Ram Naresh Yadav, who is chief patron of the tournament, has also been informed about the issue, they said.
All roads leading to stadium are muddy and full of potholes. Dignitaries, who were scheduled to be part of tournament would have travelled on roads, which are not motarable. The condition persists even as MLA and corporator of the area hold each other responsible for the affair. Around Rs 8 lakh was spent on construction of roads in the area 18 months ago.
One approach road to stadium starts from Barkhedi railway crossing and other leads to play ground via Bagh Farhat Afza. Both are in poor state. Even a light rain for couple of minutes makes them slushy.
BHA secretary I Rehman said, "We had organized a press conference earlier this month where it was announced that Obaidullah Gold Cup tournament would be organized from August 10. I requested all the authorities to construct or repair roads, but in vain."
"I had to postpone the tournament after BMC and others did not respond to my request. I had informed the governor that BHA was left with no other option, but to postpone it."
Corporator of ward-38 Mohammad Shamim said, "After digging for Narmada pipeline, BMC left roads in bad state. The BMC did not repair it properly after the digging work." "Neither local MLA nor BMC are bothered about it. As many as 35,000 people suffer because of bad patch of the road," he said
"Rs 10 lakh project has been sanctioned for construction and work would start after the monsoon," Shamim said.
MLA of the area Vishwas Sarang passed the buck on the corporator. Blaming him for the bad road, he said, "Primarily, it is the responsibility of corporator to spend money on roads inside colonies. I have spent over Rs 100 crore so far only for roads in my constituency, but neither BMC nor corporator are bothered to maintain them."