Centre has sanctioned Rs 5 crore for new sports stadium in Maharashtra's Palghar: BJP MP Hemant Savara

Hemant Savara. File Pic

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Hemant Savara on Sunday said that Union Sports Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya has approved a grant of Rs 5 crore for the construction of a new sports stadium in Maharashtra's Palghar district, reported the PTI.

The Lok Sabha member from Palghar district told reporters that he wrote a letter to Mansukh Mandaviya last month, requesting to consider setting up a multi-sports stadium complex and provide adequate funds for sports facilities in the tribal-dominated district.

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The initiative aligns with 'Khelo India - National Programme for Development of Sports' scheme, which supports the development of sports infrastructure at the district level, he said.

In his letter to the minister, Hemant Savara highlighted the lack of adequate sports facilities in Maharashtra's Palghar, according to the PTI.

He pointed out that despite limited resources, many tribals from the area were actively participating in sports and performing well.

Hemant Savara expressed hope that the new stadium would help in identifying and nurturing sports talent from Palghar.

The allocation of funds is a significant boost for the district's sports development efforts, he added.

Programme for conservation of vultures begins in Maharashtra's Pench Tiger Reserve

The Pench Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra's Nagpur on Saturday launched an initiative for the conservation of critically endangered vultures, under which villagers will dump carcasses of animals at designated places to ensure availability of food for these scavenger birds, as per the PTI.

The programme is titled 'Jatayu Gram Mitra', an official said.

"The Pench Tiger Reserve, in collaboration with Mumbai-based Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) is working towards the conservation and restoration of the critically endangered vulture species," Deputy Director of Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR) Prabhu Nath Shukla said in a release, according to the PTI.

Ten long-billed vultures (Indian vultures) were brought from the Jatayu Conservation and Breeding Centre from Pinjore in Haryana, and placed in a pre-release aviary in East Pench in Pipariya in January this year, he said, the news agency reported.

These vultures were kept in this aviary before they were released into their natural habitat in the PTR. Over the past few months, these vultures have been interacting with wild vultures outside the aviary, and based on these interactions, the PTR administration and BNHS decided to release them into the wild on August 10.

The extinction of traditional carcass dumping sites due to cultural change has diminished the food available to vultures, he said, adding the PTR initiated the

'Jatayu Gram Mitra Programme' on this year's Vulture Conservation Day (celebrated on September 7) to support their conservation. The programme will be held till next year's Vulture Day (on September 6), he said.

As part of the programme, the tradition of dumping sites will be revived to protect vultures. As part of this initiative, specific dumping sites will be designated in bushy forest areas outside the village where dead animals can be dumped to ensure the availability of food for vultures, he said, the news agency reported.

(with PTI inputs)