Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], May 5 (ANI): Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday inaugurated the renovated ice rink at Maharana Pratap Sports College, Raipur, Dehradun.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the renovated ice rink at Maharana Pratap Sports College is a big achievement not only for Uttarakhand but for the whole of India.

CM Dhami said that the state government decided to restart this rink to establish Uttarakhand as a sports land.

'South-Eastern Asian Winter Games were held in this ice skating rink built in the year 2011, in which players from many countries like India, as well as Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka participated. Later, no attention was paid to this rink due to which this was closed, but our government decided to restart this rink to establish Uttarakhand as a sports land.'

Chief Minister Dhami added, 'We had resolved that even if we have to call engineers from abroad, we will restart this ice skating rink and we worked firmly in this direction and were successful.'

Chief Minister Dhami said a 1 MW solar plant has also been installed to run this ice skating rink. He also mentioned that this rink is likely the largest in the country and possibly in South Asia.

'We had organised the National Games on the theme of Green Games, carrying forward the same commitment, a 1 MW solar plant has also been installed to run this ice skating rink. This ice skating rink is an international standard rink, which is probably the largest skating rink not only in the country but also in South Asia. The department has also received a proposal from the Ice Skating Federation of India to organise games in this rink,' he said.

Chief Minister Dhami added ice skating rink will also make an important contribution in fulfilling our resolution to establish Uttarakhand as a sports land.

'In the coming time, we will get to see the organisation of national and international-level ice skating competitions in this rink. This ice skating rink will also make an important contribution in fulfilling our alternative resolution to establish Devbhoomi Uttarakhand as a sports land,' he said. (ANI)