KARACHI: Work on laying the Astro Turf that was removed from the Hockey Club of Pakistan Stadium, at the Karachi Hockey Association (KHA) Complex in Gulshan Iqbal, is in full swing and expected to be completed by Aug-Sept, a visit to the site reveals.

The two stake holders – Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and provincial ministry for sports – have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) pertaining to utilisation of the used synthetic turf at the KHA Complex on the instruction of the Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan, officials said.

Spread over approximately eight-and-a-half acres, the amenity plot ST 17, Block 5, Scheme 24, Gulshan Iqbal, was allotted by Karachi Development Authority (KDA) to the former secretary of the KHA, the late Itteqa Hasan Zaidi, in 1989 for the promotion of game in the city besides few others amenity plots to the district hockey associations in the city.

Unfortunately, the premises remained unutilised for some two decades until the incumbent body took over the reins of the KHA in 2009.

“After becoming the legitimate body we acquired duplicate copies of documents of the land from the KDA to get the ball rolling,” former Karachi and Sindh captain and the KHA secretary Farooq Khan told Dawn on Saturday.

“Besides developing a portion for playing, we’ve constructed 12-room hostel, toilets, boundary wall around the complex by generating funds through allowing marriage ceremonies on some portion of the land which has been disbanded now,” he added.

He added that the entire old structure will be erased and new will be constructed to give it a fascinating look.

Disclosing salient features of the under-construction project, the KHA official said more than fifty per cent work of the first phase has been completed.

The first phase envisages laying of the turf and construction of seating area with a capacity of approximately two thousand people besides facelift of the surroundings, he added.

A multi-purpose hall and swimming pool will be added in the second phase under the next fiscal year, he said, adding that the provincial government has also allocated Rs3 million for the KHA in the next budget.

He said level of the ground has been elevated five feet from the road as a precautionary measure in the monsoon.

The KHA secretary said Sindh Chief Secretary Siddique Memon visited the KHA Complex recently to personally inspect the pace of work.

He applauded the untiring efforts of the former provincial secretary for sports Laeeq Ahmed, the incumbent secretary Mohammad Rashid, chief engineer Aslam Meher and executive engineer Najmuddin Shaikh for playing a positive role in the project.

Expressing optimism about the project, he said that once complete the KHA Complex would cater to a number of players residing in the neighbourhood and help revive the game in the metropolis.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2016