New Delhi:
The renovated Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Swimming Pool Complex, venue for this year's Commonwealth Games, was on Sunday inaugurated by Sports Minister M S Gill and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit here.
Upgraded at a cost of Rs 377 crores, the 5,000-seater state-of-the-art venue has elliptical shaped aluminium roof.
Also present on the occasion were CWG Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi, State Minister for Sports and Youth Welfare Pratik P Patil, and Sayan Chatterjee, Director General of Sports Authority of India.
"This is an outstanding complex and a remarkable engineering marvel. It is equipped with all the modern facilities even better than the Melbourne Games," Gill said after inaugurating the stadium.
"India have gone to the extent of spending lavishly for the Games in order to produce the best. Each stadium, each facility is more than what Commonwealth needs. Each stadium was going to surprise the visitors from all over the world," he said.
Gill added that Weightlifting stadium and Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium will be ready in next few days and all the stadiums will be handed over to the Organising Committee by August 1 as per the agreement between Sports Authority of India and OC.
The complex, which was constructed in 1982 to hold Asian Games, has the largest covered aquatic stadium in the country having Olympic-sized racing and diving pools with a six lanes warm-up pool. It is equipped with basement-filtration plant and Ozonization plant with pool water heating system.
The stadium is also equipped with green-building features such as thermal insulation in roof and walls, use of solar water heating, proper selection of low energy glass for facade to cut off heat, dual knob flushing cisterns and Ozone friendly refrigerants in high efficiency HVAC system.
"All the parties concerned have worked hard and all other stadiums built are also no less than others. This is a great swimming complex with all the facilities. I am really looking forward to having great sporting event," Dikshit said.
Kalmadi said, "When the swimmers will come to India they will find stadium above their expectations. Every infrastructure is of global standards.