BENGALURU: The
Karnataka Badminton Association
got a written communique from the state government on Saturday, saying its facility would be used as a Covid-19 relief centre for the next three months.
Baffled by the note from Capt Manivannan, secretary, information and public relations,
KBA
said the decision was unilateral and it had made no such offer to the government.
In the communique, Manivannan welcomed the KBA's decision to offer its premises to the government for anti-Covid endeavours and said "the department hereby assures you that all precautionary measures will be in place while using the premises. We will not cause any damage to the facility. The premises will be handed over to you after three months."
Three repatriation flights from the US, UK and Singapore will soon bring Indians stranded in those countries and the passengers are required to undergo varying degrees of quarantine. The government needs facilities to house them.
KBA secretary P Rajesh told STOI: "At no point have we made any such offer to the government. Recently, a few government and police officials visited our centre to check whether it can be used as a relief centre but we refused."
"It is not possible because a lot of renovation is on at the premises. Six of our academy trainees are staying here too. We cannot ask them to vacate. Also, we submitted a representation to deputy CM Ashwath Narayan stating we'd like to resume coaching," he added.
Incidentally, the officials also visited the neighbouring
Karnataka State Billiards Association
. But it was closed, sources told STOI.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that the
Karnataka State Cricket Association
and
Bengaluru Hockey Association
have been directed to keep their facilities on standby. Both confirmed to STOI that they were approached by government officials around 10 days ago and had agreed to cooperate.
In March, the
Department of Youth Empowerment
and Sports had offered its hostel at the
Sree Kanteerava stadium
and the Vidyanagar facility on Ballari Road for Covid relief. "Our facilities are ready and the authorities can take over even now if they are keen," a DYES source said.
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