SCB’s sports grounds lie in state of neglect
■ Plans to convert them into stadiums left hanging
Some of the Secunderabad Cantonment’s sports grounds which are located in Mudfort, Bowenpally and Bolaram, are in a state of neglect due to lack of proper maintenance. Some of the grounds even lack toilets and clean drinking water facility.
All these grounds will be turned into stadiums and mini stadiums, according to plans which are yet to be finalised.
Cantonment Sports Association chairman Jampanna Pratap said that though funds were sanctioned earlier, developmental work had not taken place. Nearly a decade back, the association had taken up some activities.
Mr D.J. Jagadish, a retired railway employee and a regular walker at Bowenpally and Mudfort, mentioned that both the grounds did not even have minimum water facility for senior citizens who visited the grounds for walking.
“Even during the tournaments the facilities are looked after by the Sports Association and the Cantonment Board has not bothered about this,” he added.
According Pratap, the to Mr Mudfort ground faced disputes in 2008 but the Cantonment won the case in court and the ground is under its authority now. Later on, while the SCB arranged the compound wall spending `10 lakhs in order to safeguard it from external elements.
The association had also taken up some developmental activities with the help of crowd funding of `6 lakh. This amount was utilised for arranging volleyball and basketball courts, borewells, plantations and levelling of the ground.
Reliable sources said that caretaker minister T. Padma Rao had sanctioned `2.04 crore towards the development of these grounds but the funds were still in the pipeline due to the lack of approval from the Board.
When contacted, Cantonment vice-president J. Rama Krishna said the government was in consultation with the Cantonment and a lot of correspondence was going on for setting up three stadiums at Mudfort, Bowenpally and Bolaram.
Once the election is over the work regarding the two stadiums and one mini-stadium would start. Land approvals are awaited, as there are some rules governing the matter.