New Delhi: Legendary former Indian athlete and current Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President PT Usha on Saturday alleged that there has been hooliganism and encroachment at the Usha School of Athletics in Kerala’s Balussery, news agency ANI reported.
Addressing a press conference, the athlete alleged that the land allotted to the Usha School of Athletics in Kerala is subject to illegal construction and she demanded adequate security at her academy, especially for the female athletes, from the Kerala government.
“Some people barged into compound of Usha School of Athletics and began construction work. When management confronted them, they misbehaved. They claimed that they had permission from Panangad panchayat, we complained to police and work was stopped,” ANI quoted PT Usha as saying.
“It is a growing institution, so many athletes are being trained there and this is not the first time such an incident has taken place. Safety of the girls studying there is our key concern, we still couldn't build a fence or boundary around the area,” she said, adding, “People including drug addicts, couples barge into compound at night and few dump waste into drainage. We are being targeted continuously. We need to make sure of the safety of our girls. We request Kerala CM to interfere and resolve this issue.”
She further said that there are a large number of north Indian girls who are being trained in the institute. Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) has given the land on lease and she has been trying to get all the stakeholders on board to ensure the safety of the girls there.
“I expect all the stakeholders, including KSIDC and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to intervene and ensure that this kind of encroachment into the athletics school is stopped once and for all. There has always been some kind of a problem and it has increased in recent times,” PT Usha added.