HYDERABAD: The Save Bison Polo Team, which is mobilising public support to oppose the state government’s decision to construct a Secretariat at the Bison Polo Ground, has decided to approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The group consists of individuals from different walks of life, including doctors, engineers, architects, historians, professionals, and retired officials. They have collectively drafted a letter to the Prime Minister expressing the reasons for their reservations.
Urging the PM to hear their ‘Mann Ki Baat’, they said that the existing Secretariat had ample space which could be better utilised by the government and that the residents of Secunderabad should not be deprived of the only space available to them. They said that the Bison Polo Ground is used for sporting and recreational activities, including NCC camps. “Telangana state has the largest number of NCC cadets, and they are all trained at the Bison Polo Ground. Eminent cricketers such as Mohd Azharuddin, V.V.S. Laxman, Arshad Ayub, and Purnima Rau have all practised at the Gym-khana Ground which is located beside the Bison Polo Ground,” members of the Save Bison Polo Team said in the letter.
They said that they were upset that the defence ministry has given its approval for the ground to be handed over to the government. “The citizens of Hyd-erabad-Secunderabad appeal to you to intervene and stop the proposed, unnecessary construction of a new Secretariat with tax-payers’ money. Kindly take a personal interest and positively hear our ‘Mann Ki Baat’ to save the Bison Polo Ground and the Gymkhana Ground,” they said.
The letter has been circulated among the residents of the twin cities for the past few days. People are expressing their support by adding their signatures to the letter. Nearly 2,500 signatures have been collected. At the end of this exercise, the letter will be sent, by post, to Mr Modi in New Delhi. The group intends to continue the signature campaign for a few weeks.
