Skating rink comes to North Chennai, finally!

By G Saravanan

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai, on April 19, 2011:

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/skating-rink-comes-to-north-chennai-finally!/266709.html

CHENNAI: Lack of infrastructure and better road connectivity are not the only problems that the people of North Chennai face perennially. The area is also largely neglected by the Chennai Corporation in terms of sporting facilities for the youth and the children living here.

Spacious playgrounds, multi-purpose stadiums, swimming pools and above all, steps to nurture raw talent from these neglected areas, are ‘just a few words of solace’ for North Chennai residents. On the other hand, people from the southern parts of the city enjoy everything — from the best playgrounds with indoor facilities to world-class training spaces — the residents lament.

As a classic example of neglect, the civic body has developed four skating rinks within city limits, three of them located in Anna Nagar, Shenoy Nagar and Marina Beach, while the other one on the Elliots Beach in Besant Nagar.

Not surprisingly, there is not a single sports-nurturing facility in North Chennai.

However, after a series of representations from the locals and their elected representatives, Mayor M Subramanian, in his 2011-12 budgetary speech in February, had announced the civic body’s plan of setting up a skating rink for the North Chennai people at Maha Kavi Bharathi Nagar in Vyasarpadi (Ward-33 in Zone 3).

Besides, the proposal placed for the facility by the zonal level officers at an Open Space Reserved (OSR) land amidst residential colonies months ago, has not moved any further.

“The proposed skating facility would be a boon for the local children, if it is well maintained by the Corporation after its completion,” said N Thangaraj, coordinator of the Slum Children Sports Talents and Education Development Society (SCSTEDS), an NGO working for the upliftment of slum children in Vyasarpadi and surrounding areas.

Corporation sources say that the proposal, given the importance of a new sporting facility in north, would be materialised within a few months after the Assembly election results are declared in May.