LUCKNOW, July 14 -- The alleged faulty infrastructure seems to have hit hard the image of the Uttar Pradesh Sports Directorate and this has made things difficult for sportspersons across the state. The Olympic-sized swimming pool at Lucknow's KD Singh 'Babu' Stadium has leaks even after an expenditure of Rs 22 crore, its kids' pool is in a bad shape. Besides, the jogging track at the same venue has now developed holes and the 80-bedded cricket hostel at Kanpur's Green Park Stadium has technical snags whereas the athletics track at Bareilly is reportedly of bad quality. The common factor in all these alleged poor construction is one Basti-based contractor, who has been doing the most of work in the name of his two companies even after being black-listed in the past for another firm. Laying of the correct synthetic athletics track by him at Bareilly was in question and an inquiry by the technical advisory committee was done. "Most of the construction of sporting infrastructure is being done by a certain contractor as he has got proximity with the official concerned and we have reports that the hockey turfs laid by him in Varanasi and other places are of bad quality and they attract inquiries as it's a loss of public exchequer. Even the contractor is running his unauthorised office from the government-owned Vijayant Khand Stadium," said a source in the sports directorate. Meanwhile, an inquiry has reportedly been ordered to look into the affairs at the Babu stadium pool. "I have been told by the CM's grievance redressal cell that an inquiry has been ordered by the district administration about the faulty construction of the Babu stadium pool," said BJP corporator and secretary, District Weightlifting Association, Ranjeet Yadav. "The authorities concerned are tight-lipped over the issue and it seems that they are hand in gloves with the contractor," alleged Yadav, who has been a regular at the Babu stadium. The kids' pool at the Babu stadium too has developed many faults within a year of its reconstruction. A complaint by the then regional sports officer Animesh Saxena to the construction agency Rajkiya Nirman Nigam Unit-21 blamed that despite repeated reminders to them, no corrections in the faulty construction has been done so far. The complaint included faulty showers, seepage in the walls causing electricity current on the walls, broken rods in the pool etc. "So far, there is no response from the constriction agency even though the letter was sent to them in June. It's really a dangerous situation for the kids as we shut off the power supply during the training sessions everyday," said a pool employee. A spot visit by Hindustan Times found so many holes on the jogging track at the Babu stadium which was established under the Samart City Project only last year with over an expenditure of Rs 2 crore. "The holes have been developed for the second time and even in the past district administration had ordered to lodge an FIR against the contractor for faulty construction," said an official of the Lucknow's regional sports office on the condition of anonymity. An inquiry report of the Uttar Pradesh Sports Directorate about the Kanpur hostel has exposed the faulty construction. The report (which is in possession of HT) is submitted to all concerned by sports directorate's joint director RN Singh. Although regional sports officer Bhanu says she completed the handover job of the 'faulty' hostel with the permission of Kanpur's district administration even on the very second of her joining there, RN Singh's report has identified many technical snags, including waterlogging in the rooms of the cricket hostel, which has been developed with a cost of Rs 474.74 lakh. "Yes, the handover of the newly constructed hostel building has been done as per the directives of the district administration. If there is any shortcoming, it will be done by the construction agency as the rules give them one year time to rectify things," said Bhanu, who has the additional charge of the Kanpur's stadium. However, Uttar Pradesh Olympic Association's secretary Anandeshwar Pandey blamed the authorities concerned for not keeping a track on the quality of construction. "Faulty construction of infrastructure affects athletes training and performance as well. There is no check on the construction quality across the state," he said on Sunday. He suggested that there should be a monitoring committee with the involvement of sports associations to take care of the construction work. "It's a big loss to UP's sport due to the faulty construction of infrastructure," he added....