Punjab Cricket Association plans new international stadium in Mullanpur :- Punjab is all set to have another world class cricket stadium in the near future. Currently under construction, the supposedly state of the art facility is expected to be ready by 2020.
The construction of this 38.2-acre new international cricket stadium which is coming up at Togan and Tira villages in Mullanpur in New Chandigarh started in January earlier this year.
Punjab’s current facility – Mohali’s IS Bindra PCA Stadium was built in 1992, but the lack of adequate parking facilities and poor connectivity were few of the issues plaguing the ground at Mohali.
In a meeting held in 2011, The state cricket Association (PCA) currently in charge of developing the new facility decided to build a new futuristic cricket stadium with latest facilities and world class infrastructure in the outskirts of Chandigarh.
“We had acquired nearly 40 acres of freehold land at Mullanpur in the demarcated sports and leisure area, which is having wide roads and very good connectivity from Chandigarh and even from various places in Punjab.
“The new stadium at Mullanpur, also called New Chandigarh, is going to be ready in next three years or even before that,” PCA’s chief executive officer, Brigadier GS Sandhu (retd) told reporters on Monday at the site.
The new stadium will include a sub-surface drainage system, a players’ pavilion, seven pitches including three red soil pitches like Wankhede Stadium, four-six light towers instead of 18 at the Mohali stadium, solar panels on the roof and parking space for 1,600 cars inside the stadium.
“Players and fans have memories of the players sitting in the pavilion area of the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali. The new stadium will have a players’ pavilion like the ones at Lords in England and Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, where players will walk to the playing area through the stairs and fans will be able to see and cheer them from close quarters.
Normally, the building area is made first but this is for the first time that we have started preparing the ground and pitches along with the building area. We expect to complete the stadium in 2019-2020 and it will be ready to host international matches at the start of 2020,” said D K Bassi, honorary project director of the New International Cricket Stadium.
Planned to build in two phases, the total cost of constructing the first phase of the facility is expected to be around 150 crores. The seating capacity will also see a bump to 38000 from the existing 27000 capacity of Mohali’s stadium.
The new stadium will be disable friendly and will have much easier access to the ground with a total of 16 gates for the entry. The Mullanpur facility will also have its own sewage treatment plant.
According to Bassi, the Mullanpur stadium will have sub-surface drainage, which the existing PCA stadium lacks, meaning the ground will be dry within 30 minutes of a heavy downpour.
Sharma said the stadium will have rain water harvesting and solar panels making it environmentally friendly.
“The stadium will have a cricket academy for trainees and other affiliated members of ICC. One of the problems we faced in Mohali was that the stadium is in residential area. In this stadium, the team buses and other official vehicles will be parked inside the stadium. The general stands will also have canopies for providing shade. There will be eight ramp towers for easier access to the ground,” said Brigadier (Retd) G S Sandhu, chief administrator officer, PCA.
