Railways to build floating turf grounds across Kerala, TN and Karnataka

Kozhikode, Kerala: The Southern Railway is moving ahead with a project to construct 16 floating turf grounds on railway land. Of these, 14 will be in Kerala, and one each in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

In Kerala, the proposed locations include Kasaragod, Trikaripur, Kumbla, Kanhangad, Kannur, Payyannur, Nileshwar, Pazhayangadi, Thalassery, Koyilandy, Feroke, Nilambur, Angadippuram and Tirur.

In Tamil Nadu, the ground will be set up at Madukkarai, and in Karnataka at Mangaluru. All turfs will come up on land adjacent to the respective railway stations. A children’s play area is also planned as part of the project.

The initiative aims to generate additional revenue for the Railways while promoting sports at the local level. Large stretches of railway-owned land are lying unused across Kerala, and the new project seeks to make productive use of such areas. Officials said efforts are on to complete the required procedures quickly and move to the tender stage.

Each turf will be built on 2,000 sq ft of land, with dimensions of 35 metres in width and 50 metres in length. The Railways will also take responsibility for the maintenance of the facilities. The Palakkad Division’s Senior Divisional Commercial Manager has instructed that the availability of suitable land near other stations should also be examined. At Feroke, the turf is planned near Karuvanthuruthy Road, while in Koyilandy it will be set up on railway land located close to the station.