Karnataka - Madikeri   

Work on Madikeri indoor stadium yet to begin

Madikeri: Work on the proposed Rs. 1.98-crore indoor stadium, which is to be built near the General Thimayya Stadium here, is yet to take off.

Although a sum of Rs. 1 crore was released to the district for the purpose in April 2007, neither the district administration nor the stadium committee has set the project in motion. The Commissioner of the Department of Youth Services and Sports has sought an explanation for the delay from the District Youth Services Officer (DYSO). Sources told The Hindu that the Karnataka Land Army Corporation (KLAC), which prepared the blueprint and estimate for the project, had asked the district administration to allow it to execute the project. For this, however, the KLAC had to obtain special permission from the Government.

Deputy Commissioner K.R. Niranjan, on his part, asked the DYSO, K. Suresh, to write to the Public Works Department (PWD) to take up the project, which Mr. Suresh did on February 27 last year. There has been no reply yet.

If the released funds remain unspent, the project could lose the rest of the allotted money (Rs. 98 lakh), which is likely to come from the 12th Finance Commission allocations.

The indoor stadium will have facilities for basketball, volleyball, table tennis and badminton, and a gymnasium Mr. Suresh said. The former Deputy Commissioner Subodh Yadav had planned to utilise the Rs. 1 crore allocated for the indoor stadium for the development of the outdoor stadium (General Thimayya Stadium), but the Department of Youth Service and Sports said that separate funds would be allocated for that project. A sum of Rs. 1.28 crore has now been allotted for the development of the outdoor stadium, of which Rs. 50 lakh was released to Kodagu district a fortnight ago, Mr. Suresh said. This fund would be utilised for the construction of a compound wall around the stadium, a 400-metre track, an underground drainage system and a spectator gallery.The Kodagu Zilla Panchayat too had allocated Rs. 5 lakh for the development of the outdoor stadium, he said. Currently, the outdoor stadium is being used by the people as a short-cut.

“It is a shame that a district that has produced so many international sports stars does not even have fully developed outdoor and indoor stadiums”, said a sports lover who wished to remain anonymous.

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