THRISSUR:
The State Government will be developing one major sports stadium/sports complex each in all the 14 districts across Kerala to promote sporting culture in urban and rural areas alike, Minister for Industries, Sport and Youth Affairs, E P Jayarajan, said here on Sunday.
Speaking after inaugurating the work on the state- of–the-art Municipal Stadium at Chalakudy, Jayarajan said projects like this will go a long way in establishing a strong sports culture.
“ We intend to bring about a qualitative change in the field of sports. The government has put forth as many as 57 projects to achieve this goal. As part of this, a district stadium will come up in each district. There are more in the pipe line,” the Minister said.
The Chalakudy Municipality has made available 3.27 acres of land for the project, of which one acre will be utilised for developing the indoor stadium. The stadium will have all the state-of-the-art facilities including two volleyball courts, three badminton courts and one basketball court.
The Government has sanctioned Rs 9.57 crore , through its infrastructure financing agency KIIFB, for developing the stadium on the land made available by the Chalakudy Municipality.
This indoor stadium is definitely going to play a significant role in imparting an added thrust to the sports culture in Chalakudy, which has given birth to several well – known sportspersons of the country said B D Devassy, MLA, who presided over the function.
“Many sports personalities hailing from Chalakudy have represented the country at international events. There’s no doubt that this stadium will prove to be instrumental in moulding many more sports personalities in the years to come,” he said.
Dr A Jayathilak, Principal Secretary, Sports and Youth Affairs, noted that “the plan to develop world class sports infrastructure across the state has been taken up with the intention of bringing up state-of-the-art facilities in the arena of sports not only in the cities but also villages. This stadium project is a Christmas gift and will be completed in 12 months.”
Sanjayan Kumar IFS, Director of Sports and Youth Affairs, presented the report on the project. Kerala Sports Council President T P Dasan offered felicitations at the ceremony. Chalakudy Municipal Council Chairperson Jayathi Praveenkumar and Thrissur District Panchayat President Mary Thomas also spoke.
The stadium comes under the projects proposed by the state Government in its budget for promoting sporting activities in municipal areas.
