Diminishing tennis facilities at KMC Sports Complex worry members

KARACHI: As many as 14 members of KMC Sports Complex have shown serious concerns over the gradual depletion of tennis facilities at the complex.

“Recent developments in KMC sports complex Karachi are affecting the tennis facilities there,” said Anwar ur Rehman while talking to The News.

He added that there were five courts of international standard, which hosted many provincial and national events, and the main court had seating arrangement around it as a stadium.

“About 20 years back it was converted to a commercial hub for various school functions, kabaddi, karate, etc. and the tennis facilities such as poles for net and lighting were removed,” said Anwar.

He added that the remaining four courts remained in dilapidated condition with no maintenance whatsoever and the members were maintaining the lighting, cleanliness and net at their own expense.

“Lately all wires and cables were stolen and electrical panels broken. Two of the courts were given to a contractor for renewal which took about three years to complete and yet the surface is not in a condition to play a good game,” said Anwar.

Iltifat Ahmed, another member, said that only two courts were left available with slightly better surface and one of them had boundary wall on all sides.

But, he added, last year the same was given to a private company on lease who removed all tennis facilities and spread artificial grass for playing futsal and other indoor games.

“There was only one good and two uneven courts left for the members to play. These remaining three courts have now been leased out to another private concern for use on a commercial basis,” said another member Tahir Iftikhar. He added that this shows that the authorities are completely abolishing the tennis facilities from the KMC sports complex. “Amazingly a lot of free space inside the complex premises exists and can be leased to these private concerns for developing their arena, however the tennis facility is being annihilated for a small monetary gain,” said Salman Tahir, another member.