SAMBALPUR: The Sports and Youth Services department, which has proposed to lay only hockey astro turf at Jujumura, has revised its plan and will develop a sports complex there. The proposed complex will accommodate the hockey astro turf. It will be developed at Jujumura High School Ground, spread over an area of 4.69 acre.

District Sports Officer Upendra Satpathy said the complex will house hockey astro turf, badminton court and volleyball, kabaddi and kho kho grounds besides gallery and a hostel.

Tender for the sports complex has already been completed. A Bhubansewar-based company has been selected to execute the work at an estimated cost of `seven crore. Work will begin after the model code of conduct is lifted, he said.

Satpathy said the astro turf, which was removed from pitch-I of the hockey complex at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, has already been brought to Jujumura.
It will be laid over a rubber base placed on concrete structure, he added.

Youths residing in tribal-dominated Jujumura, Jamankira, Naktideul, Rairakhol, Kuchinda and Bamra blocks are inclined towards hockey. However, hockey talent in the district has failed to excel due to lack of infrastructure. Satpathy said  U-17 boys and girls hockey teams of the district had performed well in the Tribal Sports Competition held last year. Both the teams entered the final. But they failed to perform in the final as it was played on astro turf, he said.

There are many hockey talents in the six blocks of the district and the hockey astro turf will help them hone their skill. Moreover, those who are interested in  badminton, volleyball, kabaddi and kho kho will be benefited after the sports complex comes up.