Port Blair, Dec. 29: The Member of Parliament, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Shri. Kuldeep Rai Sharma has requested the Hon’ble Lt. Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands to repair the velodrome of Netaji Sports Complex as per the international standard under Khelo India initiative and also to construct a new velodrome of internationally approved specifications at Car Nicobar for creating more cycling opportunities for the children of Nicobar District at their place of residence.

In a letter addressed to the Hon’ble Lt. Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the Member of Parliament said that it is a matter of extreme pride that we have many international level cyclists in Andaman & Nicobar Islands like Deborah Herold, Master Esow Alben and David Beckham who have brought laurels for our Islands in national as well as international level.

He said that all these cyclists and many others budding cyclists have got initial training in the lone velodrome of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and later they got specialised training in mainland India. This lone velodrome of A&N Islands is in very bad shape and training on this velodrome can lead to serious accidents to the cyclists, which ultimately can spoil their career.

The Member of Parliament pointed out that the existing Rajiv Gandhi Velodrome at Netaji Stadium Sports Complex, Port Blair has inherent technical defects since it’s construction way back in the year 1995, which needs to be identified and rectified.

He mentioned that the velodrome needs a total makeover so that not only local level but also international level training can be imparted in the velodrome. This will certainly produce more and more international level cyclists from these Islands, which will bring more medals for India in future.