SDMC to develop sports complexes in rural areas.

To give an opportunity to budding sportspersons in rural belts of the Capital, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has decided to develop sports complexes in these areas.

A senior SDMC official said the civic body will construct 30 sports complexes with facilities for badminton, tennis, kabaddi and swimming. Plots under gram sabhas have already been identified and work is likely to begin soon.

South Delhi Mayor Kamaljeet Sehrawat said the first of these 30 complexes will come up at Najafgarh’s Ghumanhera village.

To be spread over nine acres, it will have an indoor badminton court, a tennis court, table tennis courts, a swimming pool, a volleyball court, an activity park, a kabaddi ground and an open air exercise ground.

In total, facilities for 14 indoor and outdoor sports will be developed. The complex at Najafgarh will cost around ₹12 crore. Work is likely to be completed within a year, the Mayor said.

“Villages have a lot of untapped talent but it is not discovered due to lack of facilities. In many places where these complexes will come up, youngsters had requested designated spaces for sports,” Ms. Sehrawat said. Apart from Ghumanhera, complexes will also be developed in Jaffarpur Kalan, Milakpur, Rawta, and Shikarpur.

A senior SDMC official said they are in the process of seeking permission for other localities and expect the work to begin within three months.

“All sports complexes will have coaches and trainers to help hone talent,” the official said.

THE HINDU