IEP Chandigarh, March 10
The 26th All India Forest Sports Meet commenced today at Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Panchkula. Union Cabinet Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Sh. Bhupender Yadav will formally inaugurate these games on March 11.Chief Executive Officer (CAMPA), Sh. Vivek Saxena was addressing a press conference today at Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Sector-3, Panchkula. He informed that 2,458 participants will compete in 285 matches in 34 different sports during this competition, which will take place from March 10 to 14.He added that there are about 500 women participants in the sports meet. He stated that, with 202 competitors, Karnataka has the maximum participation in the tournament. He said that most of the matches will be held at Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Sector-3 Panchkula while some matches will be played at Chandigarh and Ambala.He further stated that the All India Forest Sports Meet Competition was first started in 1993 from Hyderabad. It is a matter of pride that the 26th Annual Forest Sports Competition is being hosted by the Haryana state. Even before this, these competitions had been successfully organized twice in the year 2002 in Faridabad and in the year 2013 in Panchkula respectively.He informed that international level facilities are available at Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Panchkula. Participants are also commending the arrangements and facilities provided to the Haryana athletes by the state government, he added.He said that Haryana has emerged as a sports powerhouse under the leadership of Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal. Be it the Olympics, the Asian Games or the Commonwealth Games, maximum medals are bagged by the players of Haryana. The CM named the mascot of the sports meet as Krish. Apart from this, he also unveiled the logo of the competition.Member Secretary, Haryana State Biodiversity Board, Sh. Ghanshyam Shukla said that through this competition, not only the spirit of sports will be encouraged, but officers and employees from different states will be able to meet each other and share their ideas regarding forest conservation in their respective states. The meet is being organized irrespective of the post and age limit. From junior staff to senior officers of the Forest Department are participating in it.CCF, Admn, Sh. Anant Prakash Pandey said that all the results and detailed information of this competition will be available on the website www.aifsm.nic.in. He further said that through sports we learn the discipline of life and overall personality of an individual is developed.
