Bhopal to be developed as hockey nursery: CM

Bhopal, Apr 5 (UNI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today said the City of Lakes would be developed as a ''hockey nursery'' to regain its international stature.

Mr Chouhan laid the foundation stones of various sports academies, a Central Sports Residential Campus worth Rs 28.57 crore and the state's first sports village to be spread over 172 acres at Satgarhi village 20 km from here, an official release said.

About Rs 50 crore were estimated to be spent on the sports village's development but the estimate could touch Rs 100 crore.

Stadium construction experts from Delhi have already prepared a layout of the village, which would have a hostel and playgrounds.

The government would hand over the village to sportspersons within two years.

The village would have an athletics track, swimming pool, boxing ring, indoor and outdoor stadia, aquatics centre, hostel, medicine centre, laboratory, theatre, convention centre etc.

The residential campus would replace a hostel near the local Mayur Park, to house 239 sportspersons. A men's hockey academy would be set up near the campus. Thirty-six players would be admitted and trained by professionals.

A shooting academy would be established at nearby Gora village apart from an equestrian academy at Bishankhedi village. A martial arts academy would be developed in the local T T Nagar Stadium.

Fifty per cent admission would be reserved for the state's sportspersons.

A water sports academy would be set up in the vicinity of the Upper Lake for sailing, canoeing, kayaking and rowing and 50 per cent of candidates selected from tribal-dominated districts such as Mandla, Dhar, Gwalior, Jhabua, Seoni, Panna, Betul, Hoshangabad, Neemuch, Anuppur, Khargone and Barwani, the release added.

UNI