No space to play for city's future Sachins

HYDERABAD: Even as the frenzy surrounding the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar continues across the country, aspirations of budding cricketers in Hyderabad are getting stifled as many coaching centres are unable to set up shop owing to severe space crunch.
While the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) may boast of its association with greats like VVS Laxman and Pragyan Ojha, smaller cricketing academies are struggling to expand their premises within the city limits.
Authorities at Daniel's Cricket Academy, a training centre at Vidya Nagar since 2005, have been looking to set up a bigger campus in the heart of the city for the past two years. "We have been looking for about 2,000 square yards in a centrally located part of the city, but plots are either too expensive or unsuitable to set up a coaching centre. We have a cricketing space in Uppal as well, but it is inconvenient in terms of commuting for children and their parents," said Daniel Kanaparthi who trains 80 boys at the academy.
Vinnu's Cricket Academy, which was located in Chikkadpally for seven years, recently merged with the HCA after they failed to find space to extend their campus. "We were looking for land to set up a campus in areas like Indira Nagar or on school premises near the Secretariat area, but nothing was feasible for a sports academy. Finally, we decided to merge with the HCA as they already have their campus and infrastructure in place," said Vinod Kumar, coach of the academy.
It's not just cricket, but sports at large that seems to be a neglected area for the city's children. Several schools do not even have a playground. According to a pan-India report released by the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT), out of 7,245 schools in urban Andhra Pradesh, only 3,264 have a playground. Of these, only 2,993 playgrounds are actually usable.
While the Right to Education Act makes it mandatory for all schools to have playgrounds, the state government levies property taxes on open spaces, including school grounds, which further hinders schools. "We have to shell out 30-40% more due to the taxes which are levied on the grounds. On one hand the government is trying to encourage sports, but on the other hand it is discouraging schools from having a ground by levying such heavy taxes. It is the students who suffer due to such policies," said Akanksha G, whose children study in a school in Toli Chowki.
Meanwhile, a GO making sports compulsory in all schools was issued last year, but it is far from being implemented.