Int’l-level athletics track to function at MRCF Rae Bareli
LUCKNOW : Yet another international standard athletics synthetic track is all set to start functioning in Uttar Pradesh as the Modern Rail Coach Factory (MRCF) in Rae Bareli now has this facility ready.
Presence of Olympian and Asian Games medallist steeplechaser Sudha Singh as one of the officers at the MRCF, Rae Bareli, is the biggest plus to the facility. Singh, who hails from Rae Bareli, was recently transferred to the MRCF. She is presently at the national camp for the preparations of the forthcoming Asia and Commonwealth Games.
In fact, the facility at the MRCF adds to already existing facilities of international athletics tracks at Guru Gobind Singh Sports College, Saifai Sports College and Sports authority of India’s Lucknow centre in the
state. More such facilities in Saharanpur and Ayodhya too are ready for inauguration.
“It’s a very good sign for the development of athletics in the state and I have come to know that such international facilities are also being developed in Varanasi and Prayagraj,” UP Athletics Association’s secretary PK Srivastava said on Wednesday.
“UP has been a force to reckon with in athletics as many of our athletes have consistently been doing wonders at the national and international levels even without having adequate facilities as we still lack quality equipment on already existing facilities in the state,” he further said.
Only last year, in an announcement the ministry of railways had “decided” to allow commercial use of 15 sports stadiums and complexes owned by it in a boost for accessibility to quality sports infrastructure in different parts of the country.
In fact, the ministry asked the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) to evaluate the techno-economic feasibility for the commercial development of these facilities. The list of assets being considered by the Indian Railways for monetisation include sports complexes were at the production units in Rae Bareli-based Modern Coach Factory, Kapurthala-based Rail Coach Factory, Bengaluru- based Rail Wheel Factory, Varanasibased Banaras Locomotive Works (formerly DLW) and Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory.
“If the athletics facilities at Rae Bareli are made open for public, it would be a big help to the athletes and I am sure that in future more athletes from Uttar Pradesh would come up to the national and international levels,” said Srivastava.