BAI, SAI give IG Stadium major facelift ahead of BWF World Championships

New Delhi: The organisers of the upcoming BWF World Championships in India have taken extensive steps to upgrade the venue, the Indira Gandhi Stadium, to avoid the embarrassment that rocked the India Open earlier this year.

The Badminton Association of India (BAI) and the Sports Authority of India (SAI) -- the venue's owner -- learnt their lesson the hard way. During the India Open in January, pigeons twice halted a second-round match between HS Prannoy and Loh Kean Yew. The subsequent complaints regarding hygiene and Delhi's smog left the BAI in a difficult position.

With the BWF World Championships returning to India after 17 years, the organisers are leaving no stone unturned to avoid further controversies. They have put anti-bird measures in place and even roped in monkey whisperers to host the world-class event from August 17 to 23.


The vents have been sealed, wooden doors have been replaced with a double-door entry system, and an automatic outer door has been added ahead of the regular ones. Additionally, a non-toxic gel sourced from the US has been applied around the stadium's ducting to keep birds and insects away, while portable machines that mimic predatory bird calls have been installed as a final layer of defence.

"The January event, the India Open, we had our job cut out... so we had to improve it and we were given this task. We actually started planning from February itself on how we can improve the overall situation of this stadium as this is a pretty old stadium. The infrastructure is obviously quite old. So we just wanted to refurbish it and also represent it as a new and good thing," SAI Executive Director Ambar Pratap Singh told reporters.

"So as you've be seeing, it's not just structural upgradation that have been done, a lot of soft upgradation has also been done. One, I would like them to see is the lake. We have a lake and we have tried to improve it. By the start of the event, you will see a beautiful lake just across the stadium. These are some of the soft upgrades that have been done along with structural upgrades where the roof was treated, a lot of expansion joints were treated.

"A lot of chairs are new, many of them have been rubbed and polished properly. The buildings have been painted. As far as the pigeons are concerned, there was concern inside the arena. We have introduced innovative ways to deal with it.

"It includes machines which have been imported from the US. It has also to do with a lot of non-toxic gel, a technology which repels pigeons," he added.

He said it was a joint effort between SAI, CPWD, and BAI, and that the Badminton World Federation was happy with the work done and the condition of the venue.

"Many works have been done together by a newly-constituted engineering division. SAI now has come up with a specialised engineering division of its own. The engineering division have taken up some works, others have been taken up by the CPWD and now it has been taken over by BAI. We have given the venue to them and they will be further beautifying it, making it ready for the tournament.

"The BWF is pretty happy and satisfied with the work," he said during a guided tour of the venue for mediapersons accompanied by BAI secretary general Sanjay Mishra.

Singh said they are in regular touch with MCD to keep stray dogs and monkey away from the venue.

"We have introduced double doors, automatic closing system... now it is not possible for monkeys to enter the arena. As far as the whole campus is concerned, there can be a possibility (of stray monkeys) but we are in touch with the MCD.

"For dogs also we are regularly in touch with the MCD. They will do whatever is there to be done... send them (dogs) to shelters."

He declined to reveal the expenditure for the renovation, stating that the BWF was satisfied with the court lighting and drift control.

"That (court lighting and drift control) has been done by specialists from the BWF. These are technical things BWF has to do, so that was sorted and they're absolutely satisfied that the drift has been managed.

"At the India Open also, the BWF had no problem with the lighting. There was a little bit of shadow (on the court) during the India Open. We have resolved it. An expert will come from Indonesia to test the facility but BWF is satisfied," the official said.

"Besides, roof leakages have been sorted. This is a very old building and roof leakage was a big issue but the engineering team has done a wonderful job so far. We have had heavy rains in the past few days and we have been tested."