Kulgam, July 26: With the erstwhile playground being turned into a cultivation land, the sportsmen in Badroo Village of district Kulgam are facing difficulties due to non-availability of a playground.
Locals said that a playground was inaugurated here in the year 2006 by Youth service & Sports under the patronage of MLA Gafar Sofi and the same is lying in ruins now with many families claiming the ownership of the playground land.
They added that as per the official records, the playground was spread over 11 Kanals of land but the unbridled encroachment of the land by some families has reduced the playground to a few Kanals only. “When a bunch of people protested against the hegemony of these families they were taken under custody,” they added.
One of the residents of Badroo village, Zahoor Illahi, said, “The playground is shrinking day by day and it isn’t suitable for even small kids to play cricket there.”
“Half of the work was completed on the playground land but was then left as such and till now the authorities are not ready to complete the work on the playground which has encouraged the families to encroach the land further,” he added.
Youngsters of Badroo village told ‘Kashmir Images’ they go to the school playground here for playing different games. “This playground doesn’t have sufficient space so that we can play cricket as there are chances that the ball may hit the glass windows and damage the school property,” they added.
