KARACHI The provincial government has allocated a sum of Rs311 million for creating sports infrastructure and upgrading the existing one in urban and rural areas under the annual development programme for 2009-2010.

'The rehabilitation of Sindh Sports Board Complex in the city which is in dilapidated condition gets biggest chunk of Rs50 million,' officials told Dawn.

The complex has been reactivated over a year back and needs a facelift to serve the youth in the years to come.

Another amount of Rs40 million apiece would be spent on construction of a pavilion and seating facilities for football stadium and boxing facilities in Baldia and Lyari respectively, laying of a synthetic hockey turf in North Nazimabad, and construction of an athletic track and sports ground in Larkana and Mirpurkhas respectively.

A sum of Rs30 million each has been set aside for construction of five stadiums — Gulberg, North Karachi, Baldia, Landhi and Orangi — and another eight stadiums in rural Sindh.

Other schemes include construction of mini sports stadium at Saudi ground in Malir (Rs2.8m); construction of sports stadiums in eight districts (Rs19.1m); construction of mini sports complex in Kunri, Umerkot (Rs11m); improvement and creating addition facilities at SSB Complex Hyderabad (Rs20m); construction of sports pavilion in Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Stadium Larkana (Rs20m) and promotion of traditional sports (Rs8m).

'Work on different projects is in full swing on fast track and the ministry wants to complete them by February 2010,' a top official of the sports ministry said in response to a query.

He disclosed that the department had already submitted two-time more demand then the actual ADP to the government aimed at completing certain schemes during the financial year.

It is pertinent to mention that the department for the first time utilised all the ADP grant of approximately Rs278 million on development schemes during the last financial year.