With a major series round the corner, the National Stadium needs a lot of repairs to be able to host international matches
FINALLY, after a wait of nearly 14 years, the Indians are coming. The much awaited clash of two of cricket’s bitterest rivals will finally be meeting for a series that will comprise of seven One-Dayers and three Test matches. But along with he Indian cricket team, a horde of media personnel and presumably supporters too will be making their way into Pakistani territory, cricket-stadium territory that is.
The state of Pakistani stadiums has been a well known and well documented fact. From broken seats to broken scoreboards, things are really in shambles. And now that the Indians have asked for accreditation for more than 100 of their media personnel, who will be descending upon the cricketing venues of Pakistan, it seems that even the Media Box is in for a lot of trouble. But speaking of bruised stadiums, lets take the example of one of the country’s premier structures, Karachi’s National Stadium.
Property of the Pakistan Cricket Board, it was built in 1955 to stage the first Test between Pakistan and India. It is a very important national asset due to its value and importance and should be preserved like a national moment.
This massive structure was initially built by Pakistan PWD under the guidance of (late) Mr Kafiluddin Ahmed, its Chief Engineer and a great cricket lover and organizer. It was his vision and foresight that he acquired 104 acres of prime land for this purpose.
In the initial stage, there was no roof over the spectators stands. Players dressing rooms were located beneath the spectators stand. A sizable chunk of the land was left outside the perimeter for future development. Since then the National Stadium has undergone number of development schemes, alterations and improvements. These developments primarily came about, thanks to two cricket World Cups in 1987 and 1996. The last development work was done before the 1996 World Cup. No major new work has been initiated since, especially inside the main building and spectators stands, except for fixed chairs in some enclosures.
The job of the present management is therefore to immediately improve the existing facilities. The present poor state of maintenance can only be attributed to casual attitude and lack of sense of responsibility towards such a big national asset by its management.
At present its seating capacity is 34,000 but the stadium accommodates over 50,000 spectators during crunch matches. It has a main pavilion building which houses players dressing rooms, rooms for umpires, medical and first aid, match referees, a hall for catering, an open spectators gallery, Presidential guest boxes, offices of various sizes, dining space for guests, commentary boxes a complete floor area for communication and media centre with lift facilities. Outside the main building 30 special boxes were created for renting them out to corporate sector aimed for family oriented spectators. These facility boxes (15 each on either side of the main building). These are fitted with AC, TV sets and a kitchenette with oven and small cabinets. Modern toilets are located along the passage. Each box has been furnished with carpet and sofa chairs for 14 persons.
For various public enclosures 16 huge public toilets are provided (which mostly remain out of order). The number of electric outlet points are provided for vendors in various segments. The scoreboard building itself is a large structure which houses tools and machinery at the ground-floor, beside the rooms for scorers and space for cameramen for adequate coverage.
Large open space are left between the outer wall and the main structure of the stadium to facilitate easy movement and establishment of food outlets and other stalls. In addition to all this, huge space, are available all around, under spectators stands that can be utilized for warehouses and storage. A pipeline with taps run along the fence inside the enclosures for drinking water. Its water supply system was upgraded in 2000, when the Sri Lankans came visiting.
National Stadium has the tremendous potential for further development to generate funds for not only to sustain its own expenses but also to provide handsome revenue to PCB. The state of building’s upkeep and sewerage is in bad shape. Public toilets are damaged by spectators when they find no water in the system. These are seldom restored and never functional fully.
The above description of National Stadium must have made readers aware of the necessity of preserving this asset. If this structure is built now, it would cost PCB more than a billion rupees. Other than intentional cricket, some major social and cultural events also take place hem. The famous Anoki-Akram wrestling bout was also staged here. International mushairas and some other cultural events have taken place in its perimeter. Law enforcement agencies, invariably occupy this space during emergency. It is a multi-dimensional venue for national events.
This asset is being mistreated and maintained in an unprofessional manner, one which is an eye-opener to the officials of PCB who appear to be satisfied with its present state. The present poor state of maintenance reflects the indifferent attitude of its caretakers. A brief visit to the Stadium would show that the leading road has pot holes. Wild grass is growing on large spaces left for parking. Inside the building one can find leading steps with broken edges. Filth and garbage is accumulated along the entrance of all enclosures. Facility boxes are kept in a neglected state where accessories and fixtures are non-functional. Even the six light-towers, installed just a couple of years back, at a cost of nearly Rs70 million, often remain out of order as these are not checked regularly.
Other than this, the Stadium is left with approximately 50 acres in its possession. The other 54 acres has been lost to various other agencies and organizations due to weakness of PCB authorities in the past. Many agencies are vying to grab more land.
It is now upto PCB authorities to realize the importance of National Stadium. the cricket board should consider, in sincerity, to appoint professional management of this property so that further deterioration is stopped.
With a major series round the corner, the National Stadium needs a lot of repairs to be able to host international matches 
