Culture

Andhra villagers unite to build playground for children

Residents of Makannapalli village in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district are setting an example of self-help by coming together and constructing a playground on their own. They decided to do so since their repeated requests to district authorities and Government failed to get any result.

This remote village has a population of 2,400 people and boasts of a large pool of sports talent with the young and children playing hockey, volleyball, cricket and kabaddi among other games. There are more than 100 men in this village who are serving the armed forces and police.

Despite all this the village doesn’t have a proper playground and the nearest one is located two kilometres away, making it very difficult for children and sportspersons to practice. Apart from this, residents, including the senior citizens keen to enjoy a morning or evening walk have no place to do so.

With repeated requests for a playground yielding no results, the residents of the village came together and pooled Rs. 12 lakhs and they identified two acres of land on the outskirts of the village for setting up the playground. To ensure there was enough space, they bought land at a nominal price.

Describing the response of the residents as overwhelming, Saini Desayya, Sarpanch of Makannapalli said not only did people contribute money, many came forward to gift their land too for the playground. He added that a total of Rs.12 lakhs had been collected from 100 donors and two acres of land has come from 23 landowners.

Already the levelling of the land has been undertaken. The Government has assured them of electricity connection for the playground. The villagers have asked the authorities to provide aid for chairs and other sports infrastructure.

IN Bureau

Recent Posts

‘Political space given to extremist forces’: EAM Jaishankar on attacks on Hindu temples in Canada

External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar expressed concerns about the recent attacks on the Hindu temples…

28 mins ago

Coast Guard Chief S Paramesh calls on Navy Chief Admiral, deliberates on ICG’s operational readiness

Indian Coast Guard Chief Director General S Paramesh has called on Indian Navy Chief Admiral…

41 mins ago

North Korea launches short-range ballistic missiles ahead of US elections

Just a few hours ahead of the presidential polls in the United States, North Korea…

50 mins ago

Brampton: Thousands take out solidarity rally against attacks on Hindu temples in Canada

Over a thousand Canadian Hindus gathered outside the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton, Canada on…

2 hours ago

Jaishankar meets Australian counterpart Penny Wong for Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue in Canberra

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was welcomed by Australian Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, at the…

2 hours ago

Israel targets Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in Syria

Israel on Monday targeted Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in Syria. Sharing a post on X, the…

2 hours ago