Chennai: Barely six months after laying its foundation stone, state govt has pulled the plug on the ₹261 crore global sports city project at Semmancheri. It has decided to go back to the drawing board to redesign the facility on a larger scale to host major national and international sporting events.Sources from the youth welfare and sports development department said the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu has terminated the work order following a decision taken two months ago. “We have scrapped the project, but are planning something bigger,” said a staff from minister Aadhav Arjuna’s team.A senior official from the engineering wing of the company said, “The work is in design stage.”The sports city project was sanctioned by the govt in Oct last year, and the foundation stone was laid in Feb this year. It was envisaged as a multi-sport campus with facilities for football, aquatics, shooting, archery, rowing, kayaking, BMX cycling, skating and other sports, besides indoor arenas and athlete accommodation. The govt had planned to develop the facility in phases, with the larger objective of making Chennai a destination for national and international sporting events. The first phase was planned over more than 80 acres.“When govts change, infrastructure priorities should not be compromised. The repeated scrapping or repurposing of major projects raises concerns about continuity in public planning. Such volatility risks wasting public money and sends a poor signal on long-term fiscal and urban planning,” said an urban development expert.The TVK-led govt, headed by chief minister C Joseph Vijay, has dropped or halted several projects planned or initiated under the previous DMK administration, such as Parandur Greenfield Airport project, Parandur metro rail extension on hold, cancellation of 46 temple-linked infrastructure projects, the ECR flyover project, and the Guindy-Velachery flyover construction and Coimbatore Cricket Stadium.
