KOCHI: Sports enthusiasts finally has something to cheer about. The district will get another indoor stadium at Muvattupuzha in two years. The proposal mooted to expand the existing PPS Thomas Municipal Stadium got the government nod, with the latter giving the approval to expand and convert it into an indoor stadium.
Named after Olympian Chandrasekharan and with facilities that can host national-level events, the proposed stadium has been allocated Rs 32.55 crore by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board.
"When it comes to such infrastructure development, the northern part of the district is usually neglected. So, the new project will boost its development as national, state and university-level meets can be conducted here," said Eldho Abraham, Muvattupuzha MLA.
This stadium will be the second biggest in the district, after the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Kaloor. Two acres of land will be added to the existant space as part of the development. The proposed stadium is also believed to boost the prospects of aspiring athletes in the area, who otherwise have to depend on stadiums in Ernakulam. "Students from rural areas of Idukki travel more than 50 km to Maharaja's College Stadium to practice. Since they cannot travel this far every day, most of them do not get sufficient practice before the events. Therefore, this proposal is a sigh of relief for many such people," he said.
As per the master plan of KITCO, the new stadium will comprise of courts for badminton, basketball, tennis and volleyball as well as an eight-lane synthetic track. There will also be facilities to conduct athletic events like high jump, low jump, shot put and sevens football.Apart from this, the stadium will also house hostels for both boys and girls so as to accommodate athletes from far away places.
"There are many sports enthusiasts and athletes in nearby places, especially the students of Mar Basil and St George Sports School of Kothamangalam. The hostels will save them from the problem of night travels after the practice sessions," he added.
Moreover, the municipality has also bought spaces nearby the stadium complex as part of the development. The renovation of the Municipal Stadium has been going on since 2008.