LMC shooting range caught in double trap of filth & neglect | Lucknow News
Lucknow: What was once envisioned as a state-of-the-art shooting range with a multi-crore budget has now become a neglected, forgotten structure.
Located seven kilometres off Kanpur Road in Harauni Khera village in Amausi, the LMC shooting range, constructed 16 years ago, stands in a deplorable condition — a far cry from its intended purpose.
After one reaches the shooting range, wading through dusty roads, one is greeted by a huge broken gate with cow dung piles on both sides. The sight of the dilapidated building, its rooms cluttered with cow dung and fodder is deplorable. Bathrooms are broken and crumbling, and the entire site bears the marks of neglect.
“It looks nothing like a facility meant for aspiring shooters. Instead, it’s being used as a shelter for cattle. The once-promising structure, touted to promote competitive sports in the region, never received the shooting equipment it was meant to house. Years of abandonment and misuse rendered it useless,” a budding shooter, who did not wish to be named, said.
Former executive director of SAI regional centre in Lucknow, Rachna Govil, expressed dismay at the condition of the facility. “Had the funds been utilised properly, this place could have produced world-class shooters,” she said, adding that SAI had approached LMC officials in 2011 to undertake the operations of the range, but things didn’t materialise.
Now, the LMC has decided to redesign the 37-acre shooting range into a multi-sports hub. The revamped facility will host sports like archery, table tennis, football, badminton, basketball, taekwondo, and gymnastics.
The infrastructure will include enhanced amenities such as a club, library, and cafeteria. These changes will require modifications to the current plan, which originally only focused on shooting. Chief engineer Mahesh Verma said that these updates might further increase the budget.
Two years ago, a Rs 166 crore budget plan was approved to turn it into a world-class facility. The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) reviewed and approved the site, and after a detailed project presentation, it was decided to increase the estimated budget by an additional Rs 100 crore to complete these upgrades.
“The approval for extra facilities is in the final stage, and work will begin soon,” said additional municipal commissioner Lalit Kumar.
Officials believe that the redesigned range should attract at least 1,000 visitors and players daily to maximise its utility, as a shooting facility alone had not been fully utilised due to lack of players.
Vice-president of UP Rifle Association Ramendra Sharma said that the range was never fully ready to be categorised as a world-class facility. “We currently have around 6,000 registered players in UP, including 350 in Lucknow. We have organised two events in the last four years at LMC’s range. In the absence of equipment, we were forced to rent it for a hefty amount of Rs 10 lakh every time. There was no approach road, and reaching there is a task, especially during the rainy season.”
“If we have to organise a state-level competition, we have to go to the Tughlaqabad range in Delhi, as there is not a single range in the state that can accommodate over 6,000 players for all events, including 10m, 25m, 50m, trap, double trap, and skeet,” he added.
