Whenever it rains in the city, the rainwater takes several days to drain off at the Nishtar Sports Complex. The low-lying areas around the complex remain inundated under one-foot deep rainwater for several days. The Punjab Sports Board (PSB) should take measures to remove the chronic problem. The choked sewerage pipelines at the complex also affect matches at the Qadhafi Stadium. Last week, Lahore received rains for a couple of hours enough to wash out the entire day of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy match there. The Qadhafi Stadium being our international venue deserves a proper sewerage system to save the maximum playtime.

PSB Director General Usman Anwar admitted the problem, saying that his department was planning to get installed a new sewerage system. Though Usman admitted the plan to dig two wells for drainage would be cheaper as compared to laying a new sewerage system, he said the department was working on a new sewerage system.

The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) planned to dig 25 wells in Lahore in the first phase, considering it a cheap source to quickly remove the rainwater from the city. The LDA has yet to materialise the idea.

There is also a need to take many steps to give Nishtar Sports Complex a look of a sports venue. A good number of restaurants in and around the Qadhafi Stadium have almost made it a food street. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is earning millions of rupees in rents. The green belts around the Qadhafi Stadium are also being occupied by these restaurants. Renting out shops for restaurant operation is not the policy of the Punjab government. Currently, the Punjab Stadium and the National Hockey Stadium are under the control of the Punjab government, where no area is rented out to any restaurants.

The Qadhafi Stadium is leased to the PCB by the provincial government. The PCB is allowed to rent out its shops to restaurant operators.

The sports complex does not look like a sporting venue because it has become a thoroughfare, as the traffic between Gulberg and Ferozepur Road uses it as a connecting road. The government should build a new road outside the Nishtar Sports Complex for the traffic.

The Punjab government has yet to take a final decision either to rebuild the Iqbal Parks Sports Complex at Minto Park or to build a new lake at the place to increase the beauty of the area.

To build new roads and a flyover, the government had demolished the indoor gymnasium at the Iqbal Parks Sports Complex last year, besides damaging the areas where some 10 cricket clubs had been holding their nets since Partition. Though Provincial Sports Minister Rana Mashood announced last year that Sports Complex would be rebuilt at the same area after completing the work on the roads, now we hear that the Punjab chief minister has received a proposal that a lake should be built. With better planning, the government can rebuild the sports complex and a lake too, since a big piece of land is available there.

Last week, Lahore Eagles defended its title by winning the National Inter-region Under-19 three-day final beating Rawalpindi Rams by a big margin of 159 runs at Mirpur Stadium, Azad Kashmir.

Medium-fast bowler Ahmad Bashir played a vital role for the win with nine wickets haul in the final.

He was adjudged Man-of-the-Final. Ghulam Murtaza (5-73) also bowled well while Kamran Afzal (79) runs and Gauhar Hafeez (53 runs) batted well for Lahore.

Published in Dawn, November 9th, 2014