Future of two Commonwealth venues looks bleak

The Commonwealth Games may be an opportunity to create the best of infrastructure, but not everything built for the October 3 to 14 event will hold the country in good stead. At least two venues come into focus this month by hosting test events, but their future looks rather bleak.

The Commonwealth big bore championship to be held at the Kadarpur ranges near here later this month are the best example of an event that not only has no takers in India but also holds little relevance in modern day sport. The big bore championships do not figure in events like the Olympics and Asian Games since the 1972 terrorist attack on Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, hence most countries do not pursue them.

However, they are part of the Commonwealth Games and have resulted in India having to spend Rs50 crores on the venue, apart from expenditure on the event and the test event with a sizeable amount on security. This event was originally scheduled to be part of the Commonwealth shooting championship held last month, but had to be held separately since the venue could not be ready in time.

If the venue at the Kadarpur ranges in Gurgaon may have few users after the event, the one for Rugby 7s at Delhi University may not be available for the sport at all, as plans are afoot to maintain it primarily as a cricket ground. Other disciplines like lawn bowling, netball and even archery are set to yield ground to other sports after the CWG, but the plans for them were never permanent.