Rajeshwari Mathapati, a 15-year-old cyclist, was killed in a road accident when she was practising on the national highway near Jumanal Road on the outskirts of Vijayapura city in 2011.
The tragedy could have been averted had there been a velodrome, approved way back in 2003. Even four years after the death of the cyclist, it has not yet materialised. Though the work on setting up the velodrome commenced on June 28, it may take 12 to 18 months for completion.
Vijayapura and Bagalkot districts have a tradition of cyclists, and eight from here have bagged the Ekalavya award. “She (Rajeshwari) had won gold medal in a national event and could have emerged as an international cyclist,” says Raju Biradar, president of the Vijayapura District Cycling Association.
This is just one case in point to reflect the impunity with which towns and even district headquarters — let alone villages — are starved of sports facility and rarely get any attention. This has resulted in many a sports talent never reaching the heights they could have. Tales of sports facilities never materialising are a dime and dozen in the State.
The Hindu illustrates the sad state of affairs with a clutch of examples of neglect of sports facilities in districts across Karnataka.
A space to partyA visit to the so-called sports stadium at Davangere would leave one shocked. One would find strewn here empty liquor bottles, cigarette butts and gutka packets. The proposal to lay the synthetic track here has stayed on paper, while the premises has turned into a safe haven for illegal activities. So much so, many liquor shops have come up near the stadium over the years.
Where is sports village?In Dharwad, the work on laying the 400-metre synthetic track at the district stadium was approved at a cost of Rs. 3.69 crore in 2012 after being “proposed” for many years. But it is yet to be completed. The Sports Village project, proposed by the district administration in 2011–12, could have benefited the entire north Karnataka, but this too has got nowhere after approval.
Still to be rebuiltRaichur has not had a district stadium after the old one was demolished in September last. Even before the demolition, the stadium had remained unusable for several years, owing to crumbling audience gallery and muddy ground. Raichur district in-charge Minister Sharanprakash Patil has now laid the foundation stone for a new stadium, to come up at a cost of Rs. 7 crore, and it remains to be seen when it will be completed.
Lacking in qualityAn experiment to develop the district stadium at Kolar with the help of private firms has not yielded the desired results. The district administration had roped in Honda, which donated Rs. 1.40 crore to develop the stadium. But the standards are not up to the mark. “The wood track installed in the indoor stadium is not up to the standard,” said ‘Hobby’ Ramesh, a regular player.
One pool for one millionThe heritage city of Mysuru has some good sports facilities, but it surprisingly has one public swimming pool despite having million-plus population. Though an international standard swimming pool at the cost of Rs. 3.2 crore was conceived a decade ago, it is yet to see the light of the day. The authorities say they are hopeful of completing it by Dasara.
Adventure or tragedyHassan district, with potentials for adventure sports, attracts youth from across the country who trek in the Western Ghats. But the administration is yet to put in place a system to tap potentials of adventure sports. In absence of such a system the adventure sports here often led to tragic incidents. The Department of Forests has not yet designated a trekking path or arranged to provide guides.
