Somwarpet pitches for better sporting facilities and astroturf

 Kodagu is the cradle of Indian hockey and the contribution of Somwarpet in helping the Coffee land earn the sobriquet is immense.

Two playgrounds in the town - Govt PU College grounds and Govt Higher Primary School - hold the distinction of producing fine sportspersons who went on to represent state and national teams. The hockey Olympians B P Govinda, MP Ganesh, Arjun Halappa, Somwarpet Sunil (who is part of current Indian hockey team which featured in quarterfinals of Rio Games) picked up their basics at these grounds. These grounds were once seen as cradle of hockey in Kodagu. Many quality athletes in the past, who made it big on competitive stage, learnt the early tricks at these grounds.

But Somwarpet has stopped producing top-quality sportspersons these days due to lack of proper playing arena.

The grounds are lying in utter neglect and are not fit to hold hockey tournaments and athletics meet, courtesy indifference of taluk administration and the department concerned towards developing the two available playgrounds in the town.

 25 years ago, the playground at the Government PU College was developed at a cost of Rs six lakh. The then Zilla Parishat president J A Karumbaiah and member N M Rajshekhar had laid the foundation stone for the development of the ground. Despite spending lakhs of rupees, the condition of the ground has not improved. The playground has an uneven terrain. Also, the construction of the pavilion has been unscientific as it does not prevent the rays of the sun coming in.

Though the work of laying turf on the playground was taken up two years back, the project has remained incomplete, which only added to the existing problems. The playground is in a deplorable condition and organising of taluk and district level sports tournaments, is next to impossible.

The infrastructure at the playground is woeful. There is no water supply in the toilets in the stadium. Waste is being littered around, creating an unhygienic atmosphere near the gallery. There are no takers for the gymnasium at the playground. The fitness equipment worth lakhs of rupees at the gymnasium are rendered useless.

Sportsperson Prashant said that there is a need to provide astroturf facility at the playground. Also, a state-of-the-art gallery is the need of the hour, he said.

A letter has been forwarded by the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports to the Public Works department towards identifying a 10 acre land for the construction of a 400-metre track, long back. But, no work was initiated in this regard, till date.