VIJAYAWADA: Thanks to activities held other than sports, the city’s most-sought after Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation Stadium, has become unfit for sportspersons and poses danger to those practising and training there.
A couple of activities such as Silicon Andhra Kuchipudi Festival, Amravati Marathon, and Digi Dhan Mela held in the last fortnight had transformed the stadium into a huge dust bin.
Thousands of dancers, who took part in the Kuchipudi dance festival, left behind safety pins and needles used for make-up turning the playfield into a danger zone.
“While removing the temporary tents the authorities did not show care and they simply left a good volume of pins and needles on the ground. Bare-footed children who visited the playfield had their legs pierced. The authorities should immediately use magnets to remove them,” said K.P. Rao, a senior sports administrator.
Broken bottles pose danger
The marathon, which was held on Sunday, saw thousands of runners swarming the stadium and consuming health drinks. “But what is disturbing is the attitude of the sports authority and corporation staff who did not remove the bottles the next day.”
The threat to players has come from the broken pieces of these bottles which are all over the stadium. The tracks and vehicles used to unload the paraphernalia associated with the event had crushed several bottles. “These broken pieces, buried in the ground, could be fatal. A rain will bring these buried broken glass pieces on to the surface posing a bigger threat to the players and walkers. The authorities should wake up and do the cleaning job on a massive scale,” he said.
