Mangaluru, April 29: KPCC president Dr Parameshwar, who is also the president of Karnataka Athletics Association, on Wednesday April 29th, inspected Mangala Stadium, where the 19th Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championship is scheduled to be inaugurated on April 30th.
The sports event will be inaugurated on April 30th beginning with a cultural procession at 5.15 pm. The formal stage function will be held at 6.15 pm. Later cultural events will be presented till 9.15 pm.
From May 1st to May 4th the athletic events will be held.
Dr Parameshwar spoke to the reporters later and said, initially he would like to thank the Athletics Federation of India for granting this opportunity. The preparations are made from the past one and a half months and all the ministers are also busy with it. It has been possible to host the 19th Athletics Federation Cup due to the efforts of ministers Abhaychandra Jain, Ramanath Rai, Vinay Kumar Sorake and U T Khadar, he said.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has extended his full support to the event. In the past, national-level sports could not be conducted at Mangala Stadium, due to the efforts of the ministers, the DC, the MCC, and various other officials, it will be held this time.
95 percent of the preparations are over and by today evening 100 percent work will get over. Accommodation and food have been already arranged for the athletes. One of the prime aspects of athletics is doping test and officials from National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) will arrive here to check it, he informed.
When queried whether CM Siddaramaiah would be gracing the inaugural ceremony on April 30th, he said, CM has is scheduled to attend a special meeting tomorrow with the Prime Minister over Mekedatu issue, and also a meeting regarding Swachch Bharat Abhiyan of which he is a member. The CM has assured that he would try his best to arrive to the function, said Parameshwar.
Health minister U T Khadar said, a sports injury medical centre will be opened very soon in Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Bengaluru for athletes and other sports persons. The hospital has many units, and one of them will be reserved for sports persons.
DC A B Ibrahim said we are trying to get 10,000 students to watch the event. A meeting will be held with the heads of all the schools and colleges in this regard, he said.
Concerned to the bus strike on April 30th, he said he has requested bus owners to exempt Dakshina Kannada from it.
At that moment, MLC Ivan D’Souza assured and said that private buses would be operating.
MLA J R Lobo, Manjunath Bhandary, Mithun Rai, and others were also present.
