Surat to up sporting facilities to international level

Surat: The focus of Surat civic body in the coming days will be to develop city’s sporting infrastructure to match international standards. A qualified person will be appointed as sports officer to provide it with requisite inputs for effective implementation of the plan.

To this effect, municipal commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani has a five point plan.

“We will have balanced development this time. We have adequate facility for swimming, but not for other sports,” he told TOI. Surat also has a good cricket stadium named after CB Patel, but no international match has been held there as yet.

Pani said, “We want to develop facilities that will be good enough to host international competitions. Local players and athletes need not travel to other places for training. We will first develop hockey, basketball, badminton and squash and then take up other sports facilities. A city with 50 lakh population should have good stadiums and hostel facilities for players and coaches.”

Sarita Gaekwad and Murli Gavit, athletes from tribal-dominated Dang district, and Harmeet Desai, paddler from the city, have performed well in international competitions. “Unutilized indoor stadium needs to be converted into a sports hub with tournaments being held round the year,” he said.