Tirupati: Festive atmosphere prevails in city

Tirupati: More than 4,000 athletes and officials have reached Tirupati so far to participate in National Inter District Junior Athletics Meet (NIDJAM) 2019 to be inaugurated at SV University stadium on Saturday. They were placed at their respective accommodation venues under the close monitoring of senior district officials. The young boys and girls have been engaged busily in pre-registration activities.

After obtaining information from Athletic Federation of India (AFI) they have proceeded with further process of certifying their age, verification of certificates and collecting T-shirts. The boys and girls have been expressing overwhelming joy as they reach the city to participate in a national event.

Within less than one year, the city has been hosting the mega event (last edition was held from December 1-3, 2018) and all efforts were taken to take care of the needs of athletes and officials from different states. "The arrangements are excellent. It requires a lot of expertise to host such events and this City will cherish in our minds with a beautiful hospitality," said the boys and girls from Jharkhand.

The Joint Collector-II VR Chandramouli, CEO of District Sports Authority and Trainee Collector Prudhvi Tej have been camping at the stadium and taking care of every aspect to conduct the event as per the guidelines of District Collector Dr N Bharat Gupta.

R&B officials were having a herculean task of laying and maintaining the running and other tracks at the stadium which are key in conducting the events for three days. Executive Engineer, R&B K Dhananjaya Raju said that for the last 10 days about 100 workers per day have been working to complete the formation of tracks.

More than 100 vehicles were being used to transport the athletes, coaches and officials from stadium to their venues. They will get their lunch at the stadium while breakfast and dinner will be provided at the venues. Medical teams were ready to meet any exigencies.

Deputy Chief Minister K Narayana Swamy, Minister for Sports and Tourism M Srinivasa Rao, Minister for Panchayat Raj P Ramachandra Reddy and others will participate in the inaugural event on Saturday morning. AFI officials CK Valson and others also will be present.