The long wait of the budding hockey players of the district to practise on astro turf will end soon. The IDCO which has been entrusted to execute the work to develop the hockey ground fitted with astro-turf at tribal dominated Jujumura under Rairakhol Assembly constituency has set a target to complete the work by the end of August this year.
"The new astro turf has already been brought to Jujumura. The work on the base for laying of the astro-turf in the ground has also been completed. The technical experts from Germany will check the base and the astro turf will be laid after they give their nod. The ground with astro turf will be ready by the end of this month,” said IDCO divisional head Bidhan Majhi.
Majhi said that the estimated budget of the project is around Rs 5.30 crore.
With the sincere efforts of Rairakhol MLA Er Rohit Pujari, complete new turfs have been laid on the ground so that it could be of international standard for the hockey players to get acquainted with new patterns.
Hockey is quite popular among youths in many parts of Sambalpur district particularly in Jujumura, Jamankira, Kuchinda, Naktideul and Rairakhol blocks.
"There are many talented hockey players in the district but they are not getting the proper infrastructure. This new ground will provide them ample opportunities to grow their talents," said local MLA and Higher Education Minister Er Pujari.