Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Empowerment and Sports Pramod Madhwaraj has said that the shuttle badminton court located at the District Indoor Stadium will be provided with air-conditioning facility at a cost of ₹1 crore.
Addressing presspersons here on Thursday, Mr. Madhwaraj said that this will allow the players to play their game without any inconvenience. Presently, the shuttle badminton court in the District Indoor Stadium was too hot. Both the players and spectators had to sweat. This will be taken care of by the air-conditioning facility. Nirmiti Kendra has been told to install the air-conditioning facility and the work will start soon.
He said that the previous wooden flooring of the court had given way owing to substandard quality. He had got the wooden flooring completely redone at a cost of ₹46 lakh. A synthetic mat too had been put there at a cost of ₹31 lakh. The Padukone Badminton Academy had agreed to set up its branch here. This will help budding badminton players to hone their skills. His department was already in talks with the academy on setting up its branch here. “Prakash Padukone is keen on setting up the academy’s branch here as he belongs to Udupi district,” he said.
To a question on unregulated catching of small fish on the coast, Mr. Madhwaraj said that he had urged the Union government to call a meeting of the Fisheries Ministers of all coastal States to regulate fishing. Catching fish, when small, led to the destruction of fisheries resources. This could be regulated if the Fisheries Ministers of all coastal states agreed, he said.
The fish should be allowed to grow. When the fish grew big, they fetched good price. This will also help in sustainable growth of fisheries resources. “But the Union government has not taken any initiative in this regard only because the suggestion was been given by a Congress-led State government,” Mr. Madhwaraj said.
Earlier, Mr. Madhwaraj visited the District Indoor Stadium, where the four-day Prakash M. Kodavoor Memorial Karnataka State Junior Ranking Tournament for Under 17 and Under 19 Boys and Girls, was inaugurated on Thursday.
