Big Win for Residents & Walkers! Sports Minister Stops Construction of Kabbadi Stadium
Mangaluru: While Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) was gearing up to construct a new Kabbadi Stadium on a portion of Karavali Utsav grounds, in spite of objections from the nearby residents, athletes and walkers, but Minister for Sports and Youth Empowerment Rahim Khan during an inspection of the Karavali Exhibition Grounds in Mangaluru on Tuesday, has withdrawn the No Objection Certificate (NOC) given to MCC to construct the stadium.
This comes after residents and athletes oppose the move citing lack of open space. Acceding to opposition from athletes and local residents over the loss of open space in central Mangaluru, the Sports and Youth Empowerment Department has decided to halt the construction of an indoor Kabaddi Stadium at the identified location inside Karavali Exhibition Grounds. Sports and Youth Empowerment Minister Rahim Khan, who visited the grounds here on Tuesday, listened to residents and athletes before announcing that the No Objection Certificate (NOC) given to Mangaluru City Corporation to construct the stadium would be withdrawn forthwith.
Minister Rahim Khan seen in black vest discussing with MLA Vedavyas Kamath & others
Residents and athletes had said that the stadium would take away the lone open space available for them for walking and practice. The area was reserved for warming-up activities for athletes taking part in athletics events in the adjoining Mangala Stadium, athletes said. District Athletics Association president Manjunath Bhandary told the Minister that the warm-up ground with a 200-m sprint track was formed in 2015 for the Federation Cup athletics tournament. He said that the indoor stadium would eat into the warm-up ground thereby preventing Mangala Stadium from hosting national and international events, he said.
The corporation had commenced construction of the indoor stadium at a cost of Rs 1.2 crore after getting NOC from the department. The District Amateur Kabaddi Association had demanded an indoor stadium for aspiring Kabaddi players of the district, who are excelling in State and national-level Kabaddi tournaments. In-charge Deputy Director of Youth Empowerment and Sports Pradeep D’Souza said that the NOC was given for building a temporary structure. “But now I see a permanent structure coming up. This structure will cause hindrance to holding even the District Dasara sports events at the warm-up ground,” he said.
District Amateur Kabaddi Association secretary Purushottam Poojary said that the association was in need of a 60 m x 25 m land for the indoor stadium wherein three or more mats will be laid out for Kabaddi practice and tournaments. “We want space; we are not insisting that the warm-up ground be given to us,” he said. Responding to complaints from the athletics association about the deteriorating infrastructure inside Mangala Stadium, including the damaged roof, the Minister said that he would shortly hold a meeting on the needs for sports infrastructure in Mangaluru.
With inputs from The Hindu
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