The 51st
Inter-IIT Sports Meet 2015 will be hosted by IIT Madras this year. As a part of
their infrastructural preparations for the Meet, IIT-M has decided to lay down
a synthetic sports track with a funding of Rs 6 crore. This track, which is
meant to increase stability and smoothness in running, shall also enable IIT-M
to host international sports events.

The funding for such
extensive and world class infrastructure comes from the institute’s alumni
network based out of India. Every year the institute raises several crores of
rupees for various development activities. “This year, we expect to raise near
40-42 crore rupees through our alumni connections,” says Prof R. Nagarajan,
Dean of International and Alumni Relations.

The synthetic track to
be constructed is unique to IIT-Madras and is expected to raise the institute’s
prestige among all IITs. The construction is near completion and will be first
used during the Inter-IIT Sports Meet in December.  Nagarajan says, “The Meet coincides with the
monsoons in Madras and we usually face problems of flooding of mud tracks. The
synthetic track will eliminate this issue and improve performance of the
participants. We were planning to build such a track since a long time and this
year with us hosting the meet, the timing of construction is perfect.” Bipin
Babu, Sports Secretary of IIT-M who is handling the preparation of the Meet
says, “There are 16 IITs participating this year and we want to give them best
sports infrastructure to perform. Besides, even after the Meet, the track will
help us practice better for future competitions as well.”

While the IIT-M
management thinks the new track will prove beneficial to participants, there
are several students who have contrary views. Sanket Mandal, Sports General Secretary
of IIT-Kgp feels “IIT-M students may not have enough time before the Meet to
practice on the new track and their advantage this year will be only marginal
as compared to other IIT students. However, this will initiate other IITs to
also construct such infrastructure on campus.” Ashwin Kanhere, one of the participants
from IIT-B thinks, “The host institute will always have an upper hand because
they are well adapted to their own infrastructure, while the other IIT
participants get only 2-3 days before the main event to practice. Besides, next
year when the Meet will be hosted by another institute, IIT-M students
practicing on a synthetic track, will find it difficult to run smoothly on a mud
track in the host institute. “

Ideally, the cost for constructing
a 400m synthetic track varies from a few lakhs to over 10 crores, depending on
the quality and material used. Spending 6 crores on it is not a huge amount
provided it is justified with the laurels the participants bring to the
institute. In the past, various other establishments have constructed such a
track in their sports complexes. The Balewadi sports Complex in Pune has a
synthetic track where national level sports events like the Common Wealth Youth
Games are held. In 2012, Nagpur city also built a world class synthetic athletics track at the Divisional Sports Complex. So do IITs require
such expensive infrastructure? Since the inception of the Inter-IIT Meet 50
years ago, IIT Madras has won the champion’s trophy the maximum number of
times, followed by IIT Kharagpur and IIT Bombay. Besides, IIT-M also claims to
have sent students for international sports events and won trophies there.

According to Prof K.P.
Sudheer, Sports Advisor at IIT-M, the synthetic track is not being constructed
specifically for the Meet, but was in talks since a long time. It is merely a
coincidence that the construction pan panned out at a time when the institute
is preparing to host the Inter-IIT Meet.  “It is a point of pride that among all 18
IITs, IIT-Madras is the first to have built such a track and we hope that other
IITs also follow suit,” he says.

IIT-M will be hosting
the event after 7 years, the last time being in 2008.