Conrad inspects upgrade of JN stadium

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday inspected the ongoing renovation, up-gradation and expansion of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Polo in Shillong.

The renovated stadium would include a football ground with natural grass turf and also a state-of-the-art facility for hosting track and field events.

Laying emphasis on the quality of the construction, the Chief Minister informed that the highest quality standards are being maintained and once ready will be fit to host international sporting events.

“The entire arrangements and the way the work is going on, we are going to meet the FIFA standards and this particular stadium and the football field will be at par to host any international games in the future”, he said.

“Apart from this, the stadium will have full facilities for athletics and the quality that is being maintained here for the track and field is also top of the line”, he added.

The Chief Minister the renovated stadium will have a seating capacity of close to 30,000 and will be completed by the month of December this year.

Adjacent to the Football Stadium, a multipurpose indoor stadium is also being constructed.

The Chief Minister informed that it will be the largest multipurpose indoor stadium in the Northeastern region. The indoor stadium will have facilities for different disciplines such as basketball, squash, badminton, table tennis, volleyball, etc.

Expressing his happiness at the progress of the work, the Chief Minister was optimistic that once the state-of-the-art facilities are completed it will provide an opportunity for the youth of the State to excel in the respective field and sporting disciplines.

During his visit, the Chief Minister also inspected the football field located at the first ground Polo. Necessary upgrade and expansion are being carried out to improve the ground with the laying of an artificial turf and the construction of new stands.

Stating that the youth of the State are passionate about football, the Chief Minister said that the Government is in the process to identify local practice grounds across the State and take steps to upgrade and improve the selected grounds for the benefit of football lovers.

“The Government has decided that we are going to take up different locality fields and football grounds in all parts of the State where our youth normally play football and in collaboration with the community and the local leaders we would want to upgrade these grounds with better facilities”.

“We are already surveying Shillong city and we have identified five locations where we can potentially lay these astro turfs. With this intervention we are expecting that a large number of astro turf football grounds will come up, where our youth can practise, have matches. That will be one of the steps towards ensuring that we are able to bring out the talent and give the opportunity for the youth who are passionate about football”, he said.

The ongoing construction of an Integrated Hospitality and Sports Complex at JN Stadium is at a cost of 125 crore, while the upgrade of JN Sports Complex Phase I is at a cost of 34.75 crore, while the upgrade of Phase II is 18.2 crore and the upgrade of SSA ground at 14.81 crore.

The integrated sports complex will comprise of 700-seater Multi Sports Hall, Convention Hall that can house 12 badminton courts, an independent Banquet hall with a dedicated kitchen facility, 200 seater Basketball or Futsal Indoor Sports Hall, Indoor Sports Hall for Squash (2 Nos.) and Table tennis (10 Nos.), 10 M and 25 M Shooting range.

Tynsong debunks report of assault on church leaders

Deputy Chief Minister in charge of Home (Police) Prestone Tynsong said there has been no physical attack on the two church leaders from Shillong in Bihar and that they are safely returning to the state.

Speaking to media persons, Tynsong said immediately after receiving information about the incident at Patna, where Rev RG Laloo and church elder T Nongkhlaw were on a mission field visit and that some kind of argument had taken place, he had instructed the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police to communicate with the counterpart in Bihar to know what happened and to ensure the safety of the two church leaders.

He said immediate action was taken after information was received that the church leaders were being beaten up by a mob in Patna.

“But I am telling you nothing happened like that as per the information received and everything is fine. Ultimately all the groups went to the police station. Our intervention reached also at that point in time to the police station and now that case has been closed and it has been resolved among those people with the pastor and church elder,” Tynsong said.

The Deputy Chief Minister informed that an FIR has been filed by the two church leaders even as he reiterated that there has been no physical attack on them and that it was just a heated argument.

He informed that security has been given to the two church leaders at the airport and they are returning to the state tonight.

Expressing concern over the negative news on the incident being spread in social media, Tynsong said this may lead to communal tension in the state especially in Shillong City.

“Therefore, I would like to request all those concerned to kindly refrain from (spreading false news on social media) as the government has taken serious note of the incident. I have already spoken to the office of the chief minister and deputy chief minister in Patna and everything is fine. There is nothing to worry as both of them are returning tonight,” he said.

Meanwhile, East Khasi Hills SP Sylvester Nongtnger informed that with regard to the news circulating in social media of two church elders from Shillong being assaulted in Bihar, it may be informed that on receiving information of the same, the Senior Superintendent of Police, Patna and the Superintendent of Police (City) East Patna were contacted by East Khasi Hills Police and the Director General of Police, Meghalaya where it was gathered that at around 1.30 pm today, rumours had spread of some conversion going on in a house after which people had gheraoed it leading to an altercation and manhandled the occupants present therein.

He said that the police from Alamganj PS arrived there to contain the situation and escorted the two people to the thana for safe protection.

“Bihar Police had been communicated to give all the security and protection for their onward journey to Shillong and have escorted them to the airplane,” the SP said while informing that legal action has been taken by Bihar Police against the miscreants.