Ladakh sportspersons are in an upbeat mood as the union territory has got its first open synthetic track and football turf for football stadium under Khelo India Programme. Built at an estimated cost of Rs 10.68 crore, the size of the track and football turf has been constructed on 130 kanals in the Spituk belt of the ‘cold desert’.”I’m a coach for marathon runners here. Before this, we had to run on roads. Now, we’re witnessing improvement because we can now measure distance & speed easily.Then Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday laid the foundation stones of the synthetic track and astroturf for football in September 2020.Taking to the microblogging site, Rijiju, who currently holds the portfolio of Minister of Law and Justice wrote, ” Very satisfying to see the completion of sports projects in Ladakh in less than just two years despite the pandemic! PM Modi gave a clear direction to execute all the projects on time. These are funded under the Khelo India Scheme”.Last week, Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur took to Twitter to share the picture of the football stadium and wrote, “This is NEW INDIA–Funded as part of Khelo India sports infrastructure; Open Stadium at Spituk, Leh, and Height 11,000 feet approx”.
