Rural areas to have 19,472 playgrounds in Telangana

HYDERABAD: To encourage sports and games in rural areas, State government has set a target of establishing 19,472 play grounds. Suitable sites for around 13,418 grounds have been identified. Of these, 10,451 will come up in gram panchayats.

As many as 5,602 playground works have been completed, about 7,787 are in progress and the remaining are at various stages. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is of the view that these playgrounds would help students and youths excel in various disciplines of sports apart from staying healthy and fit. The State government hopes that the playgrounds will contribute to producing the best players of national and international level from Telangana.

The CM has initiated the ambitious programme as part of rural development. For each sports ground a minimum of one acre of land has been earmarked in each village. Facilities for games like kho kho, kabaddi, volleyball, long jump, etc are being installed.