MARDAN: The expensive astro turf meant for the hockey ground here at the Mardan Sports Complex has been lying folded and decaying in the open for the last many months as the ground reconstruction work has been stopped by the contractor amid allegations of misappropriation of the funds.

“[Former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister] Ameer Haider Khan Hoti had approved an amount of Rs50 million for the astro turf and reconstruction of the hockey ground at the Mardan Sports Complex when a delegation led by me met him in late 2012,” Iftikhar Qadir Advocate, president of the Hoti Hockey Club, told Dawn.

“The construction work at the hockey ground had been started in January last year. As per the agreement made with the contractor, reconstruction of the ground and laying of the astro turf there had to be completed within eight months but despite passage of 13 months it is yet to be completed,” Iftikhar lamented.

According to Iftikhar, the contractor not only stopped the reconstruction work and left the project incomplete but also disappeared as Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf came into power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as a result of the May 2013 general elections.

He also alleged under-utilisation of the fund given for the ground.

“The approved and available fund for the ground was Rs50 million. However, the construction work carried out so far and the astro turf provided for the ground suggest that the contractor has hardly spent around Rs8.5 million on the project.”

Having remained closely associated with hockey as player for a long time, Iftikhar pointed out that a hockey astro turf usually remains useful for 10 years if it is installed timely and properly on a clean and cemented ground.

“[However], this astro turf, lying in the same condition on muddy surface out in the open, may hardly remain in use for two years if it is not properly laid forthwith,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, talking to Dawn, two hockey payers in Mardan — Inam Alam and Hidyat-ur-Rehman — said hockey activities had stopped soon after the construction started at the ground.

“There are around 16 hockey clubs in Mardan district registered with the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and each club consists of 18 players.

However, inordinate delay in the reconstruction work and in laying of astro turf at the ground is wasting promising young players who already don’t have any worthwhile sports facilities here to showcase their talent.

“There is a chance that some of these players, if not provided with healthy facilities such as this [under construction] hockey ground, may get involved in wrong, anti-social activities,” the two players cautioned.

They demanded of the provincial sports minister and other officials concerned to take up and address the issue on an urgent basis.

When Dawn contacted Munawwar Khan, Mardan district sports officer, he said the rebuilding work at the ground had stopped due to severe winter conditions. “Coal tar does not work in this season while cementing the ground for astro turf.”

The official hoped the ground would be ready for competitions by next month.

While rejecting the aforementioned allegations concerning reconstruction and laying astro turf at the ground, Munawwar said: “Soon the residents of Mardan district will see that all these allegations will be proven wrong once the project reaches its completion.”