da bet7： If Karachiites are interested to know how the city cricket affairs arerun, they would be well advised to visit the KCCA Stadium in NorthNazimabad which gives a look of a stable rather than a cricket ground
Samiul Hasan16-May-2001If Karachiites are interested to know how the city cricket affairs arerun, they would be well advised to visit the KCCA Stadium in NorthNazimabad which gives a look of a stable rather than a cricket ground.The stadium, which once staged highly competitive matches, is nowstruggling to keep pace with at least two well-maintained stadiumwithin four kilometres radius – the Asghar Ali Shah Stadium and theUBL Sports Complex.The players room, which once had tiles, proper seating facilities andshower rooms, has been reduced to a ramshackle and is barely standingon its feet with the help of bamboo’s.The outfield has wide barren patches, is bumpy, water-logged and grassmore than ankle high. Groundsmen said the grass has not been relayedfor the last three years and they were finding it difficult to keep italive for as long as possible.It seems that if the legendary Imran Khan ever said dogs and crowswatched domestic matches, he would have pointed out the KCCA Stadiumwhere the street dogs have lodged themselves just outside the dressingrooms which has been provided with an additional shelter along with acouple of tables lying about which might serve as dinner tables if anymatches are held.Behind one of the sight screens there exists a haven, for strayanimals, especially for wild dogs who roam freely without anyhindrance.At the far end, students of the Rashid Latif Cricket Academy werepractising but the nets were regularly stopped by the wind which blewtons of dust in their eyes. The poor boys were not provided withdrinking water nor even the facility of a changing room.The ground is being managed by one Mr Kamran who, when queried aboutthe state of affairs and the development programmes, said: “You willhave to talk to Mr Bukhari (secretary, KCCA).”The present outlook of the KCCA Stadium was never the same. In fact,it had an excellent look till the mid-90s after it was given to theKCCA by KMC in 1988 on a 30-year lease. Until then, things were inproper order with the cricketers having a great time.But suddenly, the KCCA split into two and the most powerful groupspearheaded by “obstinate” Prof Sirajul Islam Bukhari, who has beenthe secretary for the last three decades, forced its vice-president DrMohammad Ali Shah to throw in the towel.It would be a waste of space if one goes into the details of whattranspired which forced Dr Shah (who supervized the ground) to partways with the KCCA. But surely, it was a loss to the KCCA as Dr Shah,with an individual effort, secured an unused ground in Block ‘B’ ofNorth Nazimabad and transformed a muddy Pak Wanderers ground into oneof the best cricket stadiums of the city fully equipped with modernday requirements.Besides the excellent and international standard facilities, theground has seven floodlight towers which has a total of 112 bulbs witheach bulb of 2000volts. To run the floodlights, the stadium has a340kva generator, which even the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) doesn’thave to run its floodlights at the National Stadium in case there is apower failure.With the ground having the basic infrastructure, there is alwayssomething going on at the Asghar Ali Shah Stadium in an effort to keepimproving the facility for the enthusiasts of the game and fitnessfanatics of the locality.There is an amazing contrast in the two stadium. The KCCA Stadium isin shambles despite having the support and backing of the entirecricket hierarchy while the Asghar Ali Shah Stadium is a gift for thelocality due to the individual and untiring effort of one man.The KCCA cannot complain of being cash-strapped. However, that’sanother story if the funds have not been spent properly. The KMCstopped its annual grant of Rs100,000 in the mid-90s because the KCCAfailed to show that it was investing the public funds in the rightdirection. There is also no record where the other grants receivedover the years from other sources have disappeared.In fact, in 1995, the then Sindh chief minister Abdullah Shahpresented a cheque of Rs700,000 for the development of the KCCAStadium. The KCCA officials will have to come up with solid answers toexplain at what areas of the stadium this money was invested. Thepresent state of the KCCA itself is pathetic.The KCCA, who claim to be the biggest nursery of South Asia, have madetheir camp office inside the National Stadium since 1988 and runningits day-to-day affairs free of cost. The electricity bills are beingpaid by the PCB while a week back, the PCB gifted them a fax machineand a computer. Needless to say that the PCB also pays the KCCA permatch in its organized tournaments during the domestic season.So much so, club cricket, which is the primary duty of the KCCA, hasgradually been eliminated and the main emphasis is now on departmentaland firms tournaments who pay money to the KCCA for participation.The local cricket enthusiasts are keen to know the contributions ofthe KCCA to the city and inquire why they have imposed themselves asthe guardians of city cricketers and blocked the way for others toreplace them. They also demand the KCCA to come out clean and explainwhere they have invested the money.