The Chamkhar football ground in Bumthang town is finally laid with artificial turf, after some initial hiccups in completing the construction works. Football enthusiasts in the dzongkhag are excited about the new facility, which is expected to open in a few weeks.
Except for some drainage works, the finishing touches to the new football pitch such as the infilling of rubber, cleaning the turf and brushing have been completed, a few days ago.
The employees of Acosa Sports Infrastructure Services, the Indian company building the new facility said that they will hand over the ground to the Bhutan Olympic Committee in a few weeks time. Some children have already started taking advantage of the new facility while other football enthusiasts are looking forward to playing on the ground.
“When the works began initially, it excited the football lovers in Bumthang but then the works came to a halt. However, with the ground ready now, we hope we will get enough opportunities to play and gain experiences of playing on a quality pitch like this,” Tshering Wangchuk, a Football Enthusiast, said.
“As an organiser of football tournaments, I faced difficulties in arranging grounds for the tournaments while the works for laying the artificial turf were ongoing and later got delayed. I had to conduct tournaments in schools, which was quite inconvenient, as there are chances of disturbing the students. However, the principals have been kind enough to let me conduct the football matches after school time. Now with the ground ready, we will be able to give a new experience to the players,” Tashi Dargay said.
The construction works got delayed due to the realignment of the football ground to the multi-sports complex adjacent to it. Labour issues and cold weather also affected construction.
The new pitch is built at a cost of Nu 16.5 M funded by the Government of India. The Bumthang Dzongkhag administration is spending Nu 6.5 M for construction of a chain-link fence around the ground.
Meanwhile, the Bhutan Olympic Committee is now exploring funds to build an athletic ground, an archery range and other sports facilities nearby the multi-sports complex and the football ground. The office is planning to convert Bumthang into a high altitude training centre.
