Kundan Gupta a State-level kick boxer has stopped his practice since destruction started in Jaipal Singh Stadium. Now, he works as a caretaker on construction sites of other people on a part time basis. Rajneesh Kumar, a former national wrestler and International Coach of wrestling at NIS is deeply affected with the current condition of Jaipal Singh Stadium in the city.
Inderjeet Singh, a two-time world champion in power lifting has recently won gold in Commonwealth Games held at South Africa at age of 64 has witnessed the descent in sports culture and is deeply hurt by the crisis of playgrounds in the urban centres of Jharkhand.
In 17 years of State’s history urbanisation has taken a heavy toll on the playgrounds across the State, especially in cities like Ranchi and Jamshedpur that have been affected with the sudden influx of population, unplanned construction, encroachment and lack of government attention on the issue. The Capital city of Jharkhand now faces the perils of losing the legacy of world famous sportspersons like Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Deepika Kumari.
Apart from grounds used by professional coaching institutes there are less number of playgrounds which offers space for kids to play. DIG Ground in Burdwan Compound, Birla Maidan in Indrapuri, Zila School ground, Morhabadi Ground, Argora Ground, Shahid Maidan are among few grounds where kids can play and due to limited number of grounds they become overcrowded on holidays.
“I have left kick boxing along with few of childhood friends who were with me in state level kick boxing after practice space was taken away to construct buildings. Earlier we used to practice in Jaipal Singh Stadium and the ground opposite to it; both of them are no longer a playground. Ironically, no alternative arrangements are made by the administration in the nearby area,” said Kundan Gupta.
“It (demolition of Jaipal Singh Stadium) is a blunder which has taken away the opportunity of learning Wrestling from the present generation, Kabaddi, Kho-Kho and other games in the centre of the city,” added Rajneesh Kumar.
Powerlifting veteran Inderjeet Singh opined that many sports have disappeared from the city due to demolition of playgrounds and tournaments. “Badminton tournaments which used to happen regularly at places like Union Club and Marwari Vyayamshala of Ratu Road are now tales of past. Similarly, the prestigious Volleyball tournament of the city organised at Gabriel Club has come to end due to descent in the sports culture. Football was one game more famous than cricket in the city and was cheered at Bari Park Maidan which later on was converted into town hall. All this has a cumulative effect on the present condition,” he added.
And, there are youths and kids, who have nowhere to go to play an outdoor game. Harshwardhan Sinha a resident of lower Burdwan Compounds said, “I cannot play anywhere other than my lawn and is affecting my sports”. Similarly, Anshul Jain a student of St. Xavier’s College isn’t happy about the continuous usage of Morhabadi Ground for fares and political gatherings because he cannot play football with his friends there anymore. “Where do I go in my winter vacations to play footballIJ” he exclaims.
Manik Ghosh cricket coach in SAI said that due to less number of grounds available near households kids cannot play at their will leading to few failures of young talent and lower level of fitness among majority of kids nowadays. Notably, grounds with better infrastructure are either paid ones or used by government institutions for training District and State players.
Notably these places are close to local MlA and Urban Minister CP Singh’s place who said “the matter is into consideration and the administration will try its best to restore ground to its original position”.