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Nearly eight years after it was sanctioned, Asia’s biggest natural ice skating rink in Shimla awaits its conversion into an artificial rink so that skating sessions could be held throughout the year. Members of the ice skating club the capital city expressed apprehension on the lack of “concrete steps” taken on the project and the shrinking skating season.
The all-weather ice skating rink would be constructed at a cost of Rs 40 crore, members said citing the detailed project report (DPR). An all-weather ice skating rink would be a tourist attraction in Shimla and could help tackle drug abuse among the youth, club members said addressing mediapersons on Friday.
Absence of sports and other activities is one of the reasons youth take to drugs, they said.
Under the project, a covered artificial rink would be constructed with facilities for parking, changing rooms, a restaurant, among others so as to be able to organise national and international events, according to Rajat Malhotra and Sudeep Mahajan – both executive members of the club.
National championships for speed skating and figure skating were organised in Shimla till 2010, club secretary Manpreet Singh Sambhi told mediapersons.
In 2016, the project was sanctioned at a cost of Rs 13 crore project Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Transformation (AMRUT) project but the Covid pandemic stalled its implementation, said Abhay, an executive member of the ice skating club.
In a burst of seasonal exuberance, tourists embraced the season’s first snowfall at Sandakphu, the highest point of West Bengal, engaging in playful snowball fights that painted the landscape with colourful moments against the majestic backdrop of the Kanchenjunga mountain range. News of the first snowfall in Sandakphu and Tonglu prompted tourists to flock to the elevated regions of the district.
Later the project came under the Asian Development Bank (ADB), was then part of the smart city project and now the project is being funded by the ADB and implemented by the tourism department, he said. The project is still at the tendering stage, he added. Club members also expressed apprehension that the skating season has not yet begun this year. Last year, the season began on December 14 – later than the expected November-end – and only had 35 sessions. In 1972, the least number of sessions were held at 12 sessions. Most sessions were held in 1996-97 at 118 sessions.
Climate change, felling of trees, construction in the vicinity of the existing rink, the demolition of Rivoli Theatre above the rink – that used to block direct sunlight on the rink – coupled with pollution caused by the nearby bus stand, temperatures have increased and the ice skating season is shrinking.
Unusual rise in maximum temperatures has delayed the commencement of the season as clear sky and low temperature are a prerequisite for a good season, said Pankaj Prabhakar, another club member.
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