Shettar lays foundation stone

Shettar lays foundation stone

TNN, Oct 18, 2010, 10.32pm IST

HUBLI: Dharwad district minister Jagadish Shettar has said the upcoming sports complex plays a vital role in the making Hubli-Dharwad, collectively a mega city.

Speaking after laying a foundation stone for a sports complex at the Gymkhana Grounds here on Monday, he said north Karnataka has sporting talent in abundance, "but lack of government will to create proper infrastructure is proving to be a dampener". "Because of this, sportspersons with sound background are making their own arrangements to compete in top sporting events, while others who are poor go unnoticed," he added.

Shettar appreciated the efforts of Karnataka Gymkhana Association (KGA) for building the complex without much help from the government. "Efforts are being made to build an indoor stadium at Heggeri Grounds, and also to complete the work on a pavilion at KSCA Stadium in Rajnagar," he added.

Appreciating the efforts of KGA, MP Pralhad Joshi said there will be less scope for confusion in the development works taken up under PPP model and there will be a sense of ownership about the property among the public.

Highlighting the need to improve sports infrastructure in the twin cities, DC Darpan Jain hailed KGA for voluntarily building a sports complex. Jain also expressed happiness over putting the land to optimal utilization, at least after 90 years of its being handed over by the government to KGA.

Stating that there is a lot of sporting talent in the region, Jain said there is a huge inflow of students into the twin cities needing good sports-related infrastructure. The DC requested KGA authorities to identify the poor but talented sportspersons and train them.