Even as the newly constituted Municipal Corporation of Manesar (MCM) has started setting up sports infrastructure in Manesar, three sports projects of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) —Wazirabad sports stadium, Kamla Nehru Park swimming pool, and a sports stadium in each of its four zones — continue to remain in limbo.

Announced in June 2016 by Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, the international sports stadium in Wazirabad is yet to take off as designs have been altered on at least three occasions.

For its construction, the MCG leased a 12-acre plot from the Haryana Shahri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) for 99 years.

Until April 2019, a ₹130-crore archery range and multi-purpose indoor sports complex was to be developed at the site, but a month later, the MCG decided that a ₹20-crore recreational sports complex along the lines of Azad Maidan and Shivaji Park in Mumbai, with a multi-purpose sports ground and basic indoor sports infrastructure, was more feasible.

In August 2020, the project was revised once more, with the MCG finalising a ₹200-crore sports complex with a hostel for players and amenities, such as a swimming pool, shooting range, basketball court and kabaddi court.

“A DNIT [detailed notice inviting tender] and detailed project report (DPR) have been sent to the directorate of urban local bodies (ULB) for approval. A representative of the ULB has already studied the DNIT and DPR, and will be visiting the MCG on Friday for further clarity and discussions on the matter,” TL Sharma, the chief engineer of MCG, said.

Sharma said that the swimming pool in the Wazirabad project will be of international standard, where national-level competitions could be held.

Similar to the Wazirabad sports stadium, the fate of the Kamla Nehru Park swimming pool is also uncertain.

Despite the MCG floating a ₹2-crore tender for renovating the swimming pool in January 2020, only demolition work has been carried out by the MCG. The pool, located near Sadar Bazar, was constructed in 1975 and has been lying unused since 2012 due to poor upkeep.

“The scope of work for the project has changed. The estimated projected cost of ₹2 crore was far lower than the actual cost needed for the project. In addition, some enhancements are also being made to the original project which will take the cumulative cost of the project to ₹6-7 crore. A new estimate, hence, will be prepared afresh,” Sharma said.

He said that the MCG will try to complete some aspects of the project in the sanctioned ₹2-crore project, while the additional ₹4-5 crore worth of work will be tendered and then allotted to a contractor separately.

During an MCG House meeting in August 2018, an agenda for constructing an international sports stadium in each of its four zones was approved. However, there has been no further development in the matter for the last three years.

“There was no seriousness in regard to the proposal. When the agenda was floated, it did not list any details such as potential sites or the type of sports infrastructure which need to come up. It was simply raised and approved without any discussion or afterthought. Hence, there is no progress in the matter,” an official with the MCG’s engineering wing said, requesting anonymity.