'Track will be ready in a month'

“I am satisfied with the progress, despite the delay. The job is almost half done and the contractors have promised to hand over the stadium along with the 200-metre track adjacent to the main stadium by July 20. International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) will then inspect the new track to give its nod to hold events. I expect the entire process to be completed by August,” Shekhar told the media after a visit to the stadium to inpsect its progress.

After a gap of 13 years, the Department of Youth Services and Sports in February decided to relay a brand new synthetic track at the Kanteerava stadium with the work originally scheduled to be over by May 30. When asked about the delay, the minister blamed it on the new drainage system and rains during May. “The old drainage system around the track was very poor, leaving puddles of water after rains. So we decided to construct a new one that consumed more time. Besides rains, the Sunfeast 10K run too delayed the process,” he pointed out.

The laying of the track involves several stages. First, after removing the old track, a layer of asphalt -- which acts as the base -- is laid upon which a coat of polyethylene is applied and sprinkled with black rubber granules. This is done twice to give the cushion feel before being covered again by polyethylene and red rubber granules. Finally, lane markings are done.

Currently, the second coat of polyethylene is being applied on the 400M track while asphalting work on the 200M track will be taken up in the next few days. The entire relaying work is being undertaken by Swiss-based company BASF Construction Chemicals costing Rs 3.65 crore.