Legendary athlete and Indian Olympic Association president PT Usha on Saturday, February 4 alleged encroachment and hooliganism at her academy, the Usha School of Athletics, in Balussery, Kerala and urged Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to help put an end to continuing trouble.

Usha, who broke down while addressing the press in the capital, said she is concerned about the safety of female athletes at her academy. The former Olympian said they had tried to build a fence around the academy in the past but they have not been able to do so due to financial constraints.

“Some people barged into compound of Usha School of Athletics and began construction work. When management confronted them, they misbehaved. They claimed that they had permission from Panangad panchayat, we complained to police and work was stopped,” ANI quoted PT Usha as saying.

“It is a growing institution, so many athletes are being trained there and this is not the first time such an incident has taken place. Safety of the girls studying there is our key concern, we still couldn't build a fence or boundary around the area,” she said, adding, “People including drug addicts, couples barge into compound at night and few dump waste into drainage. We are being targeted continuously. We need to make sure of the safety of our girls. We request Kerala CM to interfere and resolve this issue.”

She further said that there are a large number of north Indian girls who are being trained in the institute. Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) has given the land on lease and she has been trying to get all the stakeholders on board to ensure the safety of the girls there.

“I expect all the stakeholders, including KSIDC and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to intervene and ensure that this kind of encroachment into the athletics school is stopped once and for all. There has always been some kind of a problem and it has increased in recent times,” PT Usha added.

The Usha School of Athletics, which offers training in athletics to thousands of athletes from across the country, was established in 2002 in a bid to help produce Olympic medal winners in India. PT Usha, addressing a press conference in New Delhi, said the acts of encroachment and hooliganism increased ever since she was nominated as the Member of Parliament of Rajya Sabha last year.

Image source: PTI