Bhubaneswar: As part of its mission to improve the sports infrastructure in Odisha, the state government has decided to set up 89 multi-purpose indoor stadiums with utility for sports, disaster shelters and field hospitals.
A proposal to this effect was approved by the State Cabinet at a virtual meeting presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday evening.
Briefing mediapersons after the meeting, Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra said the State Cabinet approved construction of 89 multi-purpose indoor stadiums under the “Urban Sports Infrastructure Development Project’ at a total project cost of Rs 693.35 crore to be completed over the next 18 months.
This will provide a major boost for the development of sports in the state.
Stating that the state government has been focusing on the development of sports, he said in recent years, the state has been recognised as a leading destination for sports events and promotion of sports.
Mohapatra said under the 5-T initiative, this project has been taken up to ensure transformation of sports sector in the state.
As per the direction of the Chief Minister, the stakeholder meetings were conducted with people representatives and the sportspersons in all these locations and the facilities and design has been made based on these discussions.
As the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) areas act as main centres for sports-related activities including coaching, the said project is proposed to ensure quality sports infrastructure across ULBs of the state.
As part of the project, the indoor stadiums are proposed to be constructed in 89 locations in different ULBs where such facilities are not available currently.
The stadiums will have facilities for badminton, table tennis, yoga, gymnasium, etc. The indoor hall space can be utilised for most of the indoor games and can be converted as per the local popularity of various indoor sports.
Besides, the indoor stadiums have been designed to withstand the wind speed of 200 kmph and can be utilised as community shelters during the disasters like cyclones, floods etc.
Apart from this, the stadiums can be converted into 50-bed (as per the model of the Notified Area Council) or 100-bed (as per the Municipality model) field hospitals. The ULBs can also utilise them for training, meetings, examination centres etc.
With this project, the image of Odisha as an emerging sports powerhouse will be further strengthened.
