Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday started work on the development of a modern football playground at Sembiyam in North Chennai.
It is part of the Greater Chennai Corporation’s project to develop 83 playgrounds with modern facilities at an estimated cost of Rs 97 crore.
Corporation commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi said the state government, under the Singara Chennai 2.0 project, is focusing on building playgrounds in open space reserved (OSR) land.
“The corporation has an inventory of over 400 OSR sites of various sizes. Instructions have been given to the officials in this regard and the opinion of the councilors has been sought to develop these places as parks and playgrounds. Since playgrounds were an important component, good allocation of funds was made for them last year. Playgrounds include football, badminton, cricket and open gyms depending on the local needs,” Mr. Bedi said.
While 15 playfields were proposed under Capital Fund in 2020-2021, work on 18 was proposed in 2021-22 under Singara Chennai 2.0 at an estimate of ₹12.57 crore. Officials said 50 more sports grounds have been proposed under Singara Chennai 2.0 in this financial year at an estimated cost of Rs 50 crore.
Officials said that the work on the modern football ground at Sembium, located in Ward 67, would be completed by next May.
The astroturf at the ground will have a length of 94.5 meters and a width of 43.5 meters and will be developed at a cost of Rs 3.3 crore. It will have a six-tier gallery, a 290-metre walkway, toilets, an open gymnasium and CCTV surveillance. Rain water harvesting system has been installed on the ground.