Hyderabad, March 14: The top brass of Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) was grilled at its executive committee meeting for its “extraordinary” decision of handing over a cheque of Rs. 5 crore to a firm for executing the canopy plan (roofing of Rajiv Gandhi Stadium) without insisting either on a bank guarantee or a proper agreement.
Worse, HCA ignored its own technical advisor V. Raghavan’s report which stated that the original plan of the stadium facilitates canopy of up to 15 m height and not of 25 m height as per the new plans. “If we are to go ahead with the deviation, we have to take a structural engineer’s report on the feasibility,” it said.
But, even before such a study was done, the association has gone ahead with its canopy deal which is also in the thick of a controversy for opting for the highest bidder (ignoring another who would have got the same job done for Rs.10 crore less).
Land issue put on hold
Meanwhile, the Executive Committee of HCA has successfully ensured at its meeting that the issue of buying land for the purpose of conducting leagues near Medak should be subject to the approval of the annual general body.
“The whole idea is meaningless given the distance, risk factor and the unwanted costs involved in the project. Moreover, a majority of the 220 affiliated clubs are not keen to take their teams all the way for a distance of 70 km (up and down) just for the sake of matches every week,” was the majority opinion at the EC meeting.
“Let us drop the issue of buying land and also the canopy subject to focus more on the developmental activities, given the new low that Hyderabad cricket has hit,” was the majority opinion at the meeting.
-Agencies