‘Save Karavali Ground’ Group Opposes Ground Space Extension for ‘Karavali Utsav Exhibition 2019’
Mangaluru : In January 2019, a group named “Save Karavali Ground” had raised an objection when MCC had planned to build a Kabaddi Stadium at a cost of Rs 1.30 crore, on a portion of Karavali Exhibition ground, adjacent to Mangala Stadium, Lalbagh-Mangaluru. Opposing the move by MCC to build the Kabbadi stadium, the Group had said that the portion of the Karavali ground has been a facility for them to use for their morning/evening walks, and also that many play cricket/football there, and if the Kabbadi stadium is built, it will take away an open space in their vicinity. But as of now no Kabbadi Stadium has come up.
So once again at the end of 2019, the same group has opposed the decision taken by the District Administration in occupying the major portion of Karavali Exhibition ground for the forthcoming ‘Karavali Utsav Exhibition 2019’. It is learnt that no bidders were willing to participate in the forthcoming Utsav, if only a portion of the Utsav ground was made available, so in order to raise more revenue, the organizers have decided to use the entire ground. And this has fumed the members of “Save Karavali Ground”, since they will not be able to have their morning exercises/walk or those who play cricket.
The following memorandum was submitted to Deputy Commissioner Ms Sindhu Rupesh, on 17 December 2019, which stated-
Subject: Objection on proposal to use the entire Karavali playground for Karavali Utsav exhibition
Last week, Mangaluru City resident group “Save Karavali Ground” learnt that the portion of the Karavali ground reserved for public recreational, physical and sport activities, will be used for Karavali Utsav exhibition 2019 to accommodate more commercial stalls. We would like to raise a strong objection on the proposal for the following reasons:
– About 500 plus citizens (especially senior citizens and ladies) use the Karavali ground for daily recreational walk, yoga and jogging. Equal number of sport enthusiasts daily play cricket, football, handball and other sports.
– Karavali Ground acts as a practice/warm-off ground for athletes participating events on non-synthetic track. It is a prerequisite for any national or district track & field event to have warm-up ground adjacent to the main stadium.
– For 19th Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Championships (year 2015), significant funds were utilized to renovate the Karavali ground – laying warm-up track, installing floodlights and fencing to demarcate the portion of the ground for Karavali Utsav.
– After the Federation Cup, Mangalore citizens walkers were prohibited from entering the Mangala Stadium and walking track was earmarked on the Karavali Ground.
– Karavali ground is the only full-length public ground, which can host field hockey tournaments in Mangalore.
– Karavali Exhibition schedule for 45 days, normally gets extended and they require about two months to assemble and dismantle the entire exhibition stalls. This would mean that for period of four months the ground would not be accessible for Mangaluru citizens for any recreational and sport activities.
– Tents and exhibition stalls installed on the ground would damage the playground surface, and the uneven surface would make it difficult for the purpose of playing, walking or running. Authorities would require additional funds to restore the playing surface.
– Moreover, Karavali Utsav exhibition adds nuisance value around the vicinity of the ground – generating massive amount of garbage, traffic congestion and noise pollution. The apartment complexes around the Karavali ground, have been raising their objection for years, but in vain.
– Event organizers do not take any responsibility to clean up the area once the event concludes. Citizen group “Save Karavali Ground” organizes regular cleanliness drives to remove the trash produced by these exhibitions or events on Karavali ground.
We are not against the Karavali Utsav, provided it is conducted on the existing designated portion of the ground and do not take the open space intended for the citizens. But we strongly oppose the proposal to use the entire ground, as it is purely for commercial reasons to install more stalls and not to promote any cultural and traditional programs. So, we kindly request you to drop the proposal to use the entire Karavali ground and release the open space back to the Mangaluru. citizens.
Speaking to Team Mangalorean, Sudhir Shetty and Vinod Alva of ‘Save Karavali Ground’ group said, “After we had submitted the memorandum to the DC, she said “there was a need to use the major portion of the Karavali ground, since the vendors were not willing to accept the bid to have their sales in a smaller portion of the ground. So in order to cover the expenses of the Utsav 2019, we will have to acquire, probably the entire ground. And in the meantime, we will provide you with a tentative ground for your walk and other sporting activities”. We are yet to accept DC’s offer, after we discuss it with other members. Even if we allow the entire ground for the exhibition, the problem is that after the exhibition we will have to do the cleaning left behind by the exhibitors. We have experience such situations in the past, and we anticipate in future too. More details on our future action in this regard will be informed soon”.
Just like the Nehru Maidan ,which was donated to the City by a rich Catholic Catholic family, to be used ONLY for sporting events-but sadly, the Maidan has been used for political, religious and other events, which has totally ruined the Maidan with filth, holes, nails etc etc. And similarly, has been the case with Karavali ground which got a face lift during the 19th Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Championships in the year 2015, and since then, it has been totally neglected by MCC and District Administration. Oh well-nothing much can be done, since this is India, and this is Mangaluru?
