Uttarakhand to build college, training centres for sportsmen

Uttarakhand is constructing new stadiums, a sports college and a couple of training centres to boost sports in the hill state where the National Games 2018 will be held.

Chairing a meeting of the sports department on Tuesday night, Chief Minister Harish Rawat asked the department to gear up for the national games by preparing a final working plan. He asked the officials during the meeting to hire a consultant for developing new infrastructure facilities for the national games. The department has also been asked to hold talks with different sports federations.

The chief minister said two new stadiums with international standards are being constructed at Dehradun and Haldwani. In addition, two mini stadiums are being constructed at Munsiary area in Pithorgarh district and Pauri town in Pauri district, which will also function as sports training centres.

Uttarakhand is the venue for the 2018 National Games where competitions in 32 disciplines will be held, an official statement said. "We are going to set up a new sports college at Pithorgarh and a few more training centres in the hills," said Shailesh Bagoli, secretary in-charge, sports department. Besides, a high altitude training institute on the lines of National Mountaineering Institute Uttarkashi will also be set up in Munsiary area.

In the run-up to the games, the Chief Minister said various tournaments at block and district levels should also be organised in 2015.

And in the next year (2016), some national tournaments should also organised in the state.

"This will help in building a tempo for the games," Rawat said during the meeting, attended by state sports minister Dinesh Agarwal and other senior officials.