Driven to a corner over the delay in getting facilities ready at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium at Kaloor for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup, Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) Chairman C.N. Mohanan has lashed out at the authorities for reportedly wasting almost two years since it was known that Kochi might be chosen for hosting the global event.
Mr. Mohanan said that except for the ground, even the tendering process for critical facilities like installation of chairs and fire safety network was initiated only in January after he assumed charge in December 26 last year. “In fact, the installation of chairs and fire-fighting facilities was completed over the last one-and-a-half months. Water pump, generator, and a sewage treatment plant, which were not overhauled for over two decades, were also renovated during the last couple of months,” he said.
Mr. Mohanan added that rather than blaming the present governing committee of the GCDA, questions should be asked as to why preparations were not completed even in two years as Kochi was zeroed in on as one of the potential venues in 2015.
Asked whether the Kerala Football Association (KFA) and other stakeholders were also to be blamed, he declined to be drawn into a blame game. However, sources said the KFA did practically nothing in the scheme of things. “In fact, they [KFA] were supposed to remove the waste they had dumped at the stadium, replace 7,500-odd chairs damaged during the conduct of the Indian Super League, and renovate toilets by January this year. However, it was left to the GCDA to get such things done,” sources said. While former GCDA Chairman N. Venugopal agreed that the present dispensation was not largely responsible for the delay, he declined to completely absolve it, saying that the delay of over three months in finalising the tender formalities initiated in January for fixing chairs and fire-fighting network could have been avoided.
He said that while the ground preparation works could be undertaken under his watch, the installation of chairs got delayed owing to technical reasons warranting consultations with engineers. But before those steps could be taken, the Assembly election was announced, and he stepped down in May last year shortly after the new government was sworn in. Mr. Venugopal added that in the intervening seven months till Mr. Mohanan assumed charge, the interim committee did no work at the stadium, he said.
“A large part of the blame should also go to the incompetence of the engineering division of the GCDA. My request at the very outset to assign an experienced engineer of the State government to supervise the work also went unheeded,” Mr. Venugopal said.
