Ladakh gets its first open synthetic track & football turf in Leh under Khelo India programme

Ladakh sportspersons are in high spirits as the union territory has got its first open synthetic track and football turf for football stadium under Khelo India Programme.

Developed at an estimated cost of ₹10.68 crore, the size of the track and football turf has been built on 130 kanals in the Spituk belt of the 'cold desert', Livemint reports.

"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," Tsering Stobgyas told ANI news agency.

Then Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju had laid the foundation stones of the facility in September 2020.

Taking to the microblogging site, Rijiju, who currently serves as the 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 shared the picture of the football stadium on Twitter 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".

Khelo India Programme is central government's initiative to revive the sports culture in India at the grassroots level by developing a strong framework for all sports. It aims at establishing India as a strong sporting country in the world.