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Action under the lights

Photo: K.R. Deepak

All lit up The ACA-VDCA Stadium under the lights

One cannot miss the imposing ACA-VDCA stadium on the National Highway in the city outskirts and during a few evenings last week the ultramodern stadium has been more prominently visible as the floodlights erected recently have been switched on. The playfield in side and the stands around it were lit up with lights fixed on four towers around the stadium and it was as good as day light.

With the evenings have been thus literally lit up, a large number of men and women residing in the PM Palem and surrounding areas made a bee line to the stadium to see the playfield under the lights. For the Vizagites, rather people in Andhra region, floodlights at a stadium happened for the first time and this is not just a facility but a necessity to get the port city elevated as a Test centre. ACA has already staked its claim to hold a Test in Visakhapatnam and provided the floodlights at the ACA-VDCA stadium to fulfil an important condition. With the floodlights in place ACA can now hold day-night ODIs also instead of only day matches that have been held so far.

Work on the floodlights commenced some months ago, i.e. before the Deccan Chargers decided to bring the exciting twenty20 IPL matches to the city. The floodlights are a necessity for the IPL matches and as the schedule is being made the lights at the stadium are ready. Thus a facility that is meant for Tests saw the Vizagites able to see the slambang IPL matches too. The IPL matches are expected to be held during April. Instead of two allotted to Visakhapatnam, the number has been doubled thanks to the inability or other problems being faced at other centres regarding moving the security forces from election duty to the IPL matches.

ACA secretary V. Chamundeswaranath said.

Testing of floodlights commenced on Tuesday evening and on Wednesday evening all the four masts have been lit up. Only some fine-tuning is needed to ensure that the light is uniform all over the playing area and the brightness is up to the required level.

ACA has spent Rs. 5.5 crores on the floodlights, Rs. 4.5 crores for the floodlights and Rs. 1 crore on the generators to provide power to lights.

This amount is said to be less than what other stadiums in the country have spent. ACA left it to the Infrastructure Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (INCAP), a Government organisation, to prepare the project report and also to finalise the tenders. It is overseeing the job while Phillips Company, which bagged the tender, executed the work. Four masts, each 35 meters tall have been erected at four corners of the stadium behind the stands and a board of the height of 10 meters each fixed with 98 bulbs is fixed on top of it. Two 750 kv generators would provide power to the four masts of floodlights. At present the trials were being done with the help of generators of less power.

ACA secretary V. Chamundeswaranath and vice-president P. R. Narayanaswami expressed satisfaction over the work done. A team of Phillips engineers led by Soumen from Kolkota are testing the lux levels.

The floodlight facility would also be provided for the nets at the “B” ground of the stadium. The nets would also have astro-turf pitches, one each for pace and spin, Mr. Chamundeswaranath said.

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