VIVEKANANDA YUVA BHARATI KRIRANGAN (SALT LAKE)

Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (Salt Lake)

Salt Lake City, Kolkata - 700 091

Contact person: Deputy Secretary Sports and youth Services,
Deptt. (Sports Wing), Govt. of West Bengal,
Address: Writers Buildings,
Kolkata - 700 001.
Auditorium - Capacity : 1,20,000

The Stadium at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan was inaugurated by Sri Jyoti Basu, Chief Minister, Govt. of West Bengal on January 25, 1984 in presence of following dignitaries.

There is a Gym-Cum Fit Center inside the stadium with various facilities with instruments. The employees of this stadium have to attend to various duties of unique nature. Stadium has to be developed further from time to time and according to the need of the different programme and keeping parity with the modern outlook and demand.

President Samar Mukherjee
Chief Guest Umapati Kumar
Special Guest Prasanta Sur, Minister for Municipal Affairs 
Subhas Chakraborty, Minister for Sports & Youth Affairs
Snehangshu Kanta Acharyya, Advocate General
Kamal Kumar Basu, Chairman, West Bengal State Council of Sports

Foundation stone of Tartan Track for athletics was laid by Mr. EMIL ZATOPEK on Sports day, the 22nd February, 1986.

vybkVivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan was taken over by the State Government by a Cabinet decision on 1st November 1990. After dissolving the Society for Sports & Stadium, the Sports & Youth Services Department has been declared the Administrative Department in respect of the Salt Lake Stadium and the staff strength of that time was 110 excluding Chief Executive Officer. It may be pointed out here that birth of State Youth Hostel took place on 19th December 1985 with a capacity of 976 seat under the control of the then Society for Sports & Stadium.

Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (Salt Lake Stadium) is the second largest stadium of the world. It is a stadium of international standard and has a capacity of about 1,20,000 spectators who can leave the stadium within 7 minutes. The illumination level in the stadium involving 1500 lux containing 624 metal halide of 2 KW each which is also a marvel of illumination works. Its flood light system is also unique in a sense it is not the usual tower type illumination but is of necklace type illumination thereby minimizing the shadows and creating uniform distribution of light. The stadium, since its completion has witnessed many historic events.

vybkFurthermore there is a State Youth Hostel inside the Stadium with a capacity of 988 which is one of the biggest Youth Hostel in Asia. The existing arrangements of State Youth Hostel are being attended to by the employees of the Stadium for the last 25 years.

Stadium has to be developed further from time to time and according to the need of the different programme and keeping parity with the modern outlook and demand. As for example SAF games was held here in the year 1987 and immediately before that 2 Giant Score Boards, Steel tubular structure cantilever roof and Flood Lighting System were constructed. This process is still continuing and different development and renovation programme has been taken up recently.

vybkThe electrical section has to look after 5(five) sub-stations, 8(eight) transformers, 17 switch gears, 2 nos. 380 KV sound proof diesel generator sets and about 100 AC sets which include from 1.5 ton machines to 5.00 ton machines of different manufacturers. In addition to these, street light, operation of lifts, maintenance of cable line, street light of the ring road and peripheral light at 25m. level.

In addition to sports & games, various prestigious programmes are also held here through out the year. Some of the programmes are bio -mela, infocom, industrial trade fare, road congress, elections, lexpo, CII conference, yuva utsab, science exhibition, various military and police training programmes.

Salt Lake Stadium, Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan is a multi-purpose stadium in Bidhannagar, Kolkata, West Bengal. It is the largest stadium in India and second-largest in the world.

Information

The stadium is the second largest non-auto racing stadium in the world and the largest in the Indian sub-continent. It is currently used for football matches and athletics. The stadium was built in 1984 and holds 120,000'11 people in a three-tier configuration.

vybkIt is situated approximately 10 km to the east of the Kolkata downtown and is elliptical in shape. The roof is made of metal tubes and aluminum sheets and concrete. There are two electronic score boards and control rooms. The lighting is uniformly distributed to facilitate nocturnal sports. There are special arrangements for TV broadcasting.

The stadium covers an area of 76.40 acres (309,200 m2). It was inaugurated in January, 1984. The salient features of the stadium are unique synthetic track for athletic meets, electronic scoreboard, main football arena measuring 105m x 70m, elevators, VIP enclosures, peripheral floodlighting arrangement from the roof-top, air conditioned VIP rest room and Conference Hall. Other features of the stadium are also commentary boxes for All India Radio and TV along with several platforms for TV cameras, press boxes, dormitories and AC. rooms, player's changing rooms, practice grounds for football, cricket and khokho, volleyball field and an ultra-medium gymnasium. The stadium has its own water arrangements and standby diesel generation sets.

The floodlights which illuminate the stadium consist of 624 bulbs of 2 kW each and two electronic scoreboards consisting of 36,000 bulbs of 25 watt each. The four underground reservoirs have unique fire-fighting arrangements with a capacity of 10,000 gallons. The architectural and structural design of the stadium was the work of the Joint Consultants viz., M/S. Ballardie, Thompson & Matthews Pvt. Ltd. and M/S. H.K. Sen & Associates - both from Kolkata, West Bengal. The track was prepared by Reckortan Tartan Track, Germany. The electronic scoreboards were supplied by Electro Impex of Hungary.

After its inauguration in January, 1984 with the Jawaharlal Nehru International Gold Cup Soccer Tournament, the Salt Lake Stadium has hosted several important international tournaments or matches such as The Pre-World Cup Tournament in 1985, Super-Soccers in 1986, 1989, 1991 and 1994, 3rd S.A.F. games in 1987, USSR. Festival in 1988, Charminar Challenger Trophy in 1992, Jawaharlal Nehru International Gold Cup in 1995. The stadium also hosts different kinds of cultural programs such as dance and music concerts.

There is a climbing wall at the northern side of the stadium, it is maintained by the West Bengal Mountaineering and Adventure Sports Foundation under the Youth Service Directorate of the Government of West Bengal.

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi and his teammates are playing a FIFA official international friendly against Venezuela at Salt Lake's Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan on September 2. The official confirmation came on Monday when Celebrity Management Group along with the state government, All India Football Federation and Indian Football Association made an announcement.

"The Argentina Football Association had indeed signed a contract to bring in the full-strength squad including Messi and Carlos Tevez among others. So the contract guarantees their participation," said Bhaswar Goswami of CMG. The city-based sports management firm that had earlier brought football legend Diego Maradona in 2008 would also organise another international friendly match between Argentina and Nigeria in Dhaka on September 6.

Football

Football is the main sport in this stadium.

The Salt Lake Stadium hosts the home games of local clubs Mohun Bagan A.C., Kingfisher East Bengal F.C., Prayag United SC. and Mohammedan SC, three of the big clubs in Indian football. The traditional Kolkata derbies between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan AC take place in this stadium accompanied by much fanfare and feverish emotions (and on a few occasions, outbreaks of violence). Most of these matches are attended by capacity crowds of supporters of both teams.

Many of the home games of the India national football team are also played in Salt Lake, as are many important games in major stages of national tournaments.

On June 5, 2011 FIFA sanctioned a match to be played at Salt Lake on September 2, 2011. The match was scheduled to be played between the football sides of Argentina and Venezuela. [2] The match did end with Argentina winning the game 1-0 with Nicolas Otamendi scoring the only goal in the 67th minute from a Lionel Messi corner. Venezuela broke a few times into the Argentinean defense but could not make any real chance.

The stadium was also host to Oliver Kahn's final official match for Bayern Munich when they played a friendly match against Mohun Bagan; Bayern won 3-0.

Athletics

The stadium also hosts important athletic events. It has hosted the SAF Games in 1987 and various national athletics events in India.

Connectivity

The stadium lies on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, so it is easily accessible by road. A metro station on the East-West Corridor on the Kolkata Metro is currently being constructed.

Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (Salt Lake Stadium) is the second largest stadium of the world. It is a stadium of international standard and has a capacity of about 1,20,000 spectators who can leave the stadium within 7 minutes. The illumination level in the stadium involving 1500 lux Containing 624 metal halide of 2 KW each which is also a marvel of illumination works. Its flood light system is also unique in a sense it is not the usual tower type illumination but is of necklace type illumination thereby minimizing the shadows and creating uniform distribution of light. The stadium, since its completion has witnessed many historic events.

There is a Gym-Cum Fit Center inside the stadium with various facilities with instruments. The employees of this stadium have to attend to various duties of unique nature. Stadium has to be developed further from time to time and according to the need of the different programme and keeping parity with the modern outlook and demand.

The composite stadium complex is located in a plot of land measuring about 76.40 acres in the North-Eastern part of the city. The stadium has the following unique features:-

Main football arena measuring 105M x 70M.

  • Synthetic track for athletic meet as per international specification.
  • Electronic Scoreboards.
  • Cantilever Roof over the spectators' gallery.
  • Peripheral floodlighting arrangement from tip of roof structure up to an illumination level required for colour T.V. transmission with 'zero' shadow of the participating teams playing under flood-lights.
  • Stand by diesel generator sets for uninterrupted power and water supply arrangement of its own.
  • Lifts for dignitaries along with VTP/WIP enclosure.
  • Air-conditioned VIP rest room.
  • Air-conditioned Conference Hall.
  • Commentary boxes for A.I.R. and TV. as well as several platforms for T.V. Cameras at different point as per specification.
  • Press Boxes for media.
  • Dormitories having capacity of 850 persons as well as 22 A.C. Rooms for about 50 persons.
  • There are also rooms earmarked for Telex, Teleprinter, Fax, Post Office, Bank, as well as players changing rooms for the participating teams.
  • Football field for practice.
  • Cricket practice ground.
  • Gymnasium Hall.
  • Khokho practice ground.
  • Volleyball field.