Ranjit Thakur
JAMMU, Oct 3: The Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) has failed to maintain one of the oldest Parade Sports Ground in the heart of Jammu city by giving dent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s much-hyped Khelo India slogan.
Sports fans are concerned about the poor maintenance done to the city’s main playing field, which is in dilapidated condition. The dusty outfields filled with uneven grass and potholes create a challenging environment for athletes while absence of proper grass is causing numerous injuries to young budding players, which discouraged them to play outdoor games and even parents hesitate to send their children to such grounds.
The physical and mental developments of children greatly rely on the significance of engaging in sports activities, Akshay, a local resident, mentioned that although he lives nearby, but refrains from allowing his children to play in this ground due to the excessive amount of dust and poor condition of the ground.
A veteran Football player Rakesh Khanna expressed that they have a strong emotional connection with this ground as it holds their cherished memories from childhood to adulthood. However, over the past 30 years, there has been a significant decline in the conditions here, rather than any improvement in sports facilities and infrastructure.
“For a very long time this ground has been ignored by the Government and not given any thrust to improve its condition, as this ground was used to host major events by keeping aside the sports. The ground was even used to park vehicles for a long time, but in the past few years some work has been done on it but that was not enough. We want this ground to be developed properly and exclusively used for sports,” another sports enthusiast said.
Municipal Councilor, Ward No 10, Anil Kumar told Excelsior, “This is very crucial ground in the old city and we are trying every possible effort to improve its condition. Earlier, it was used for parking vehicles and organizing functions, but we have strictly prohibited any such events and parking inside the ground. We have spend over Rupees 1 crore in construction of sheds (both sides), stairs, mud leveling work, drainage repair work in the ground and very soon, beautification work such as wall paintings (3D) will be started here to give sporty look to the stadium by depicting paintings of sports stars on the walls.”
He also mentioned that two cricket pitches were constructed in the ground and also a roller was provided to the stadium. This stadium is unique as it serves a large number of children from the old city who have no other alternative ground to play.
Rajinder Sharma, Jammu Mayor said, “We have spent a huge amount in improvement of the ground in past few years by providing lighting facilities, installing of new gate, sheds, mud leveling work but this ground needs to be developed on the professional manner which needs proper management, coaches and public cooperation in it.”
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