Alumni, students and residents have opposed the use of Ropar Government College’s sports ground for a religious function.Under the aegis of the district administration and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the religious programme, Ek Sham Shiv Ke Naam, is being organised at the college’s sports ground.The programme will be inaugurated by Ropar Deputy Commissioner Aditya Dachalwal on Tuesday evening, while Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann is expected to attend the function on Wednesday evening.The students’ association and several others have urged the district administration to preserve the sports facility and prevent any damage to its infrastructure.In a representation submitted to the DC on Tuesday, the alumni stressed that while they have full respect for religious programmes, the college playground should not be used for non-sporting events that could adversely affect the playing surface and sports facilities.The renewed concern has also brought back memories of one of the notable examples of community service in the district — the restoration of the college playground through Kar Sewa (community service) under the leadership of former SDM Ropar Daljeet Singh Bhangu, himself an alumnus of the institution.Bhangu, who studied at Government College during the 1972-74 session, told The Tribune that the 13-acre sports ground was once among the finest in the region and regularly hosted inter-college and inter-university tournaments.However, when he was posted as General Assistant to the DC Ropar in 1995, he found the once-famous ground reduced to a marsh due to years of neglect, with sewage water flowing into the premises, he said.He said that despite repeated efforts to secure government funding, the project remained stalled because official estimates for restoring the ground were considered prohibitively high. A second opportunity came when he was posted as SDM Ropar in 2000.Determined to revive his alma mater’s playground, he convened a meeting of the Alumni Association and government departments, where it was unanimously decided that the restoration would be undertaken through community participation.The first priority was to divert the sewage entering the ground and connect it to the main sewerage system. Funds from the Alumni Association were immediately utilised, and the work was completed within ten days. Once the ground began to dry, large-scale levelling and restoration work was launched on a war footing, he said.He further said that the initiative received overwhelming public support. Baba Avtar Singh, former students and members of the local business community arranged tractors, JCB machines, labour and other resources free of cost. Local petrol pump owner Sardar Bachittar Singh supplied diesel on credit, he said.Bhangu said that government estimates for the restoration of the college ground had been pegged at around Rs 1.20 crore, but with professional planning and voluntary service, it was completed for just Rs 4.60 lakh. Today, the restored sports complex houses a national-level cricket ground, an athletic track and other sports facilities, besides hundreds of trees planted around the campus, he said.In their memorandum, the alumni warned that non-sporting events involving heavy stages, vehicles, generators and large gatherings had damaged the ground in the past and sought strict protection of the sports infrastructure.Ropar AAP MLA Dinesh Chadha, when contacted, refused to comment on the issue. Ropar administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the college grounds would be restored after the function.