Bhubaneswar: Town planners and experts gathered to discuss the potential of Bhubaneswar as a future ‘Sports City’.
The Odisha Regional Chapter of the Institute of Town Planners, India, (ITPI) organised the East Zone Conference here that discussed ways to increase sports infrastructure in the city.
“We are of the view that sports events should be decentralized in the country and not be solely taking place in cities like New Delhi or Guwahati. Bhubaneswar has the potential to be a ‘sports city’ after it successfully organised Asian Athletics Championships in 2017 and Hockey World Cup in 2018,” said DS Meshram, President of ITPI.
Meshram is also a former Chief Planner in Town and Country Planning Organisation, Union Ministry of Urban Development.
ITPI said it will send the discussed recommendations to the state government.
The conference was inaugurated by Pratap Jena, Minister of Housing and Urban Development. “Bhubaneswar’s sports infrastructure needs to focus on youth so as to conceive the city as the future sports capital of the country,” said Jena.
Experts suggested that the city should have avenues to pursue a wide range of sport activities to build a sports culture. “Winning more Olympic medals needs serious commitment and scientific approach to training. We should tap on the potential of other sports apart from hockey, shooting and wrestling. For example, you can rack up a maximum of 16 medals in Cycling in the Olympics. But hardly any infrastructure is in place that focuses on proper training for cyclists. Emphasis on proper sports infrastructure should be from the grassroots level— in schools. If heritage is Bhubaneswar’s identity then sports can be the brand ambassador,” said urban planner Piyush Rout.
For that, experts also suggested that participation of private sector in providing sports infrastructure can be encouraged by giving them certain incentives. Proper sports complexes can catalyze activities like tourism, conventions and festivals. Some of the other recommendations made during the conference were to diversify sports activities or events by developing sports infrastructure in Cuttack and Puri as well for an all pervasive development.
