SAVE BENGAL 
Sri Sri spares stadium... - Salt Lake escapes Yamuna mauling
FESTIVAL SCARE FOR JR WORLD CUP VENUE
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160314/jsp/calcutta/story_74370.jsp#.VuZEfn197IU
Mamata Banerjee had invited Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to organise at the Salt Lake stadium the programme that saw tens of thousands trampling the Yamuna floodplain in Delhi over three days from Friday.
Sources in the state sports department said the chief minister had asked Ravi Shankar last December why he wasn't considering Calcutta for his "global event", the World Culture Festival organised by The Art of Living Foundation.
"We have Salt Lake stadium," an official quoted her as saying while trying to convince him that space wouldn't be a problem.
Thankfully for the stadium, plans for the cultural festival in the capital were at an advanced stage. "Ravi Shankar told the chief minister that Delhi had been finalised as the venue for the World Cultural Meet. He promised to keep Calcutta in mind the next time such an event is organised," the official said.
Ravi Shankar had met Mamata to invite her for another programme at the Salt Lake stadium on December 19, an event much smaller in scale than the Yamuna jamboree. The chief minister eventually did not attend the four-and-a-half-hour event organised by the foundation at the stadium that saw a turnout of about 25,000. The evening schedule had comprised "Live Sudarshan Kriya" and "Divine Music and Mass Meditation".
The stage had been built on the running track facing the VIP gallery. Officials associated with the stadium, built in 1984, said they had noticed "damage to the rubber on the already old track" after the event. This was apparently caused during the construction of the stage on December 17 and by volunteers running around.
"The track would have had to be replaced because the rubber was peeling off in places but the programme made it worse," said an official of the sports department.
The largest football stadium in the country is undergoing a Rs 52-crore overhaul ahead of the 2017 Under-17 FIFA World Cup, a global event that dwarfs the Art of Living festival that ended on Sunday.
Twenty-four countries participate in the biennial tournament and representatives from 209 countries are expected to be in the country for the tournament. Football's brightest stars - Neymar (Brazil and Barcelona) and Tony Kroos (Germany and Real Madrid) to name just two - made their mark in earlier editions of the tournament.
To ensure that the stadium, a candidate to host the final of the Under-17 tournament, presents the future Neymars the best conditions to showcase their skills, all sporting activities there have been suspended from January 28. Mohun Bagan and East Bengal are playing theirI-League home matches at Barasat stadium, which will also host matches of the upcoming ISL.
Experts in charge of the Salt Lake stadium revamp were aghast to learn that the stadium had been offered as a venue for a cultural programme with the work still far from complete. According to them, a large-scale cultural programme would have made it very difficult, if not impossible, for them to ready the stadium ahead of a FIFA inspection in October.
The CEO of the stadium and joint secretary of the sports department, Jyotirmoy Chatterjee, described even the October deadline as "tight".
Metro went round the stadium to see the progress of the overhaul and assess the impact that a disruption would have had.
Natural turf
FIFA had wanted the AstroTurf to be replaced with natural grass, so instead of the synthetic surface that was causing and aggravating injuries to players, the pitch now sports a covering of "Riviera Bermuda" grass. The "soft, smooth and player-friendly surface" would not have withstood trampling by thousands of feet. Much of the grass would have been uprooted under so many feet, said an expert.
An employee of Sports Turf and Golf Enterprises, the company in charge of maintenance of the ground, said it would take up to a month to set right even one bald patch.
"The work began on May 11, 2015, and took two-and-a-half months. It involved sowing the grass by hand and clipping each grass at the right time to facilitate growth," he added.
The bill for replacing AstroTurf with natural grass is Rs 5 crore.
Practice grounds
Two new practice grounds are being built at the "Helipad Ground", adjacent to the Hyatt Regency hotel, to conform with FIFA's requirements.
The Rs 8-crore bill includes the construction of floodlights, changing rooms and referees' rooms.
The grounds are being made with the same specifications as the main pitch with layers of clay, stone chips and sand below the grass. A cultural festival would have affected the levelling of the site, now in its final stages.
FIFA had set February 28 as the deadline for the practice grounds to be ready but will take stock of the work during the inspection in October.
Running track
The old track that circumscribed the pitch has been removed and the surface is being readied to lay a new track.
Once the soil is ready, German company Porplastic will start to lay a liquid substance that will solidify to form the surface of the new track.
"It is extremely important to prepare the soil well before the track is laid," explained CEO Chatterjee.
Footfall on the soil would have hampered its preparation. The new track is being laid at a cost of Rs 6 crore, of which the central government will pay Rs 5.5 crore.
Fresh tracks, however, are not part of FIFA's recommendations ahead of the Under-17 World Cup.
Road widening
Roads from all the gates - including some new ones - to the driveway around the stadium are being widened to 50ft.
The levelling work here too would have been undone by thousands of feet. Fresh grass rolls being laid under the stadium ramps might also have been damaged.
FIFA had expressed satisfaction with the number of ramps at the stadium but asked for more gates to be built. The stadium authorities are coming up with at least two more gates, taking the total number to eight. The gates and the road widening would cost Rs 10 crore.
Bucket seats
The concrete galleries on all three tiers of the stadium are being replaced with bucket seats at a cost of Rs 8.5 crore. Wherever needed, the stands are being repaired prior to installing the seats.
The work is expected to go on for months because many galleries need repair. Workers said concrete would not solidify properly if there was movement in the stands.
Installation of the chairs was not recommended by FIFA but the sports department decided to do it to ensure spectator comfort and aesthetic appeal at the showcase global event.
