IAS officer walks with his dog in evening, empties stadium

The stadium was built for the 2010 commonwealth games, especially to attract the national and state athletes and footballers

For the past few months, several complaints rose about the Delhi government-run Thyagraj Stadium, which was forced to close at 7 pm evening. According to many, the reason behind this is Delhi’s Principal Secretary Sanjeev Khirwar. Around, 7:30 PM he takes a walk around the complex with his dog.

“We used to train till 8-8.30 pm under lights earlier. But now, we are asked to leave the ground by 7 pm so that the officer can walk his dog on the ground. Our training and practice routine has been disrupted,” said a coach

Few media personnel, who visited the complex to get an on-ground knowledge, got the evidence that in the last three days, that the arena was closed well under 7 PM.

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The stadium administrator Mr. Ajit Chaudhury describes the unbearable heat as the reason behind closing the arena early. He didn’t share any timings on closing the arena, nor he was aware of any government official using the stadium after closing hours.

“We have to close by 7 pm. You can find the government office timings anywhere. This (stadium) is also a government office under the Delhi government. I am not aware of any such thing (an official using the facilities to walk his dog). I leave the stadium by 7 pm and I am not aware,” Chaudhary said.

On Tuesday, at around 7:30 PM, Mr Khirwar visited the complex with his dog, and was seen roaming and taking a walk inside. On being asked about the issue, he said,

“I would never ask an athlete to leave the stadium that belongs to them. Even if I visit, I go after the stadium is supposed to close…We don’t leave him (the pet) on the track…when no one is around we leave him but never at the cost of any athlete. If it’s something objectionable, I will stop it.”

Parents and guardians of athletes labeled it as “unacceptable”. They shared their discomfort with the misuse of power.

“My child’s practice is getting disrupted. Even if they say they use the facilities late at night, can you justify using a state-owned stadium to walk your dog? This is gross misuse of power,” said the parent.

Some athletes said that, earlier before, they used to practice till 8:30 PM or till 9:00 PM under the same heating conditions. But, given the current situation they don’t face a choice, rather than ending their practice at 7 PM.

Few athletes have shifted to the Sports Authority of India’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, which is 3 KM away from there. The stadium have floodlights on till 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM.

“Children train here till 8.30 pm under the lights. Now, during the summer break, we run out of space in the practice area since the main stadium track is still under renovation,” said a coach at JLN stadium.