Protests erupted at Gachibowli stadium on Friday morning, with children, parents and athletes raising slogans against its alleged acquisition for the expansion of the Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS). The protesters claimed that Revenue Department officials had been visiting the stadium and conducting surveys to acquire five acres of land in archery area.
"This stadium has given a platform to sports icons like PV Sindhu. And now, the government is casually handing over five acres of land to the hospital. How is this fair to the athletes," asked Ramanjeet Singh, a parent who brings his children to the stadium for practice.
Other protesters shared his sentiment. "We worry that if the hospital comes up, it will be too close to the stadium and in violation of certain laws. It could potentially be a health hazard," they said.
Many of them were miffed with the government as roughly nine acres of stadium land was already acquired for the hospital previously. They asked why so much land was needed for a hospital when other multi-speciality hospitals were set up in far less space.
Meanwhile, A Venkateshwar Reddy, chairman of Sports Authority of Telangana State confirmed to Express that the said land was allotted to TIMS nearly six months ago. "The land being given away is vacant and will cause no disturbance to the existing practice and games. If there's any trouble, there's ample space within the sports complex to be allotted to the players," he said.
