There were three grounds that were developed by the government in the Mayem constituency spending crores of rupees but two years down the line all these grounds have been rendered useless with no maintenance by the authorities.
It may be stated the three football grounds, one at Chameran-Chorao and other two at Kelbaiwada and Haturlim in Mayem were developed by utilizing funds from the treasury. All these three grounds were developed in 2016 and were inaugurated by the then sports minister, Ramesh Tawadkar.
At the time of inauguration all these grounds appeared lush green and was considered as super by sports lovers. But two years down the line the grounds look deserted with the grass having dried out.
“The grass has dried because there is no maintenance by the authorities. It is like the authorities have forgotten about the ground after its construction,”said Akshay Mhapsekar from Chorao.
The ground at Chorao is really bad with weeds growing at the corners. The steps leading towards the ground have been damaged and there is heap of bottles and other plastic seen near its entrance.
Mhapsekar whose house is just next to the ground claims the SAG should have at least installed a net behind the goal posts so that the houses would not be affected by the footballs.
“The ground is totally neglected and no one is bothered about it. No one comes to inspect the condition of this ground and even if someone comes they just come, sit and go away” Mhapsekar alleged adding “we demand that there should be proper facilities including water, changing room and other things.”
Rajendra Kundaikar from Chorao also had the same opinion. “There is no maintenance and weeds have grown on the ground. If there is a proper ground the youths would be benefited.” Kundaikar stressed.
“We have already demanded the SAG repair the ground. Youths from the village do play on the ground but there are no facilities” Chorao sarpanch, Pandhari Vernekar told.
If the Chorao ground is infested with several problems the condition of other two grounds at Haturli and Kelbaiwada is almost the same. At Kelbaiwada it is not just the grass that has got damaged but the railing enclosing the ground is now falling to pieces.
“The ground has a water pump but there is some problem with it and it doesn’t draw any water,” Krishna Naik from Mayem said.
When contacted, the Mayem Sarpanch Vishwas Chodankar accepted that all these three grounds are neglected by the authorities concerned.
“During last two years there were three grounds were developed and the condition of all these three grounds is the same and they are neglected. So the youths cannot properly use them and we request with the authority to look into the matter and do the necessary repairs” Chodankar told.
