Advisors to Governor K Vijay Kumar, Kewal Kumar Sharma and K Skandan Thursday jointly inaugurated newly installed facility of flood lights at Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium Bandipora.
The flood lights installed at a cost of Rs 75 lakhs have brought cheers among the sports lovers of the district as the night matches including football and cricket will soon be played in the stadium.
The advisors congratulated the people of Bandipora for getting the flood lights facility for the stadium. He said the people of Bandipora have always been sports lovers with soccer being the most favorite sport and the matches have always drawn huge crowds and hoped that the Day-Night matches will be the new attraction for the sports lovers and shall draw huge crowds to witness the matches and entertain themselves.
The advisors also laid the foundation stone for the construction of synthetic athletic track under Khelo India.
Advisor K Vijay Kumar said that the youngsters of Bandipora have showcased an exceptional performance in different activities and received recognition at national and international level. He said the government is committed to provide better sports infrastructure at village level so that the youth are able to polish their sports skills and are able to perform better in competitions.
The main attraction of the day was when all three advisors broke the official protocol and went in the stadium to play volleyball with the youngsters who were already playing a volleyball match. The match drew a large number of spectators who welcomed the advisors in the stadium by huge applauses.
The advisors also interacted with the players and members of different clubs who apprised the advisors about several issues. The advisors gave patient hearing to them and assured them to look into the issues on priority.
At Check Arslan Khan, the advisors also inaugurated instant playfield at Langurgund Panchayat at Gundpora constructed by Rural Development Department under convergence scheme at the cost of Rs 17.50 lakhs. The playfield was developed by way of earth cutting, leveling, filling and a protection works on Arin Nallah under MGNREGA thus fulfilling the long pending demand of the locals. The advisors also distributed cricket kits among several cricket clubs of the district
Advisors said the Department of Rural Development has taken up the task of developing 206 playfields in 151 Panchayats of the district at the cost of Rs 8.23 crore and 178 play fields have been completed so far. He said under convergence plan the playfields are being developed at low cost so that a space is provided in every village for the youth to practice and take part in sports activities. He said steps are being taken up with the objective to provide basic sports infrastructure to explore the hidden talent of youth in sports field.
Secretary Youth Services and Sports, Sarmad Hafeez, Deputy Commissioner Bandipora Shahbaz Ahmad Mirza, Superintendent of Police Rahul Malik, Additional Deputy Commissioner Bandipora Zahoor Ahmad Mir, Assistant Commissioner Revenue Reyaz Ahmad Beigh, Assistant Commissioner Development Jehangir Ahmad, Joint Director Planning Imtiyaz Ahmad besides other officers were also present on the occasion.