After being a garbage dumping ground for years, the Campal parade ground may soon breathe afresh, as the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA), which took the initiative to restore the ground to its original glory, is gaining success. GSUDA is set to clear the entire plastic dump from the site before the upcoming monsoons, while using the balance screening material as base for its ambitious football stadium proposed there.
For years now, the Campal Parade Ground, which hosts events like the State Liberation Day on December 19 and the Republic Day on January 26, has been the garbage dumping facility for the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) where the waste is sorted and treated in the compositing units. However, with the new football stadium coming up at the site, the dumping has been stopped for the past one year.
“We have stopped dumping waste at Campal ground,” CCP Commissioner Deepak Dessai said.
GSUDA, the nodal agency for construction of the football stadium, has said that the European-style stadium project, costing Rs 43 crore, with 4500 seating capacity, would be built clearing all the garbage.
“We have already segregated the plastic waste and sent it to Vasavadatta Cement factory, in consultation with the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB),” a senior GSUDA officer said.
“Around 40-35 per cent plastic waste is yet to be transported to the cement factory and the same is expected to be done in next four-five days, before monsoons hit the State,” the officer said, adding “if we fail to do so, the dump would be covered with tarpaulin,”
He said that nearly 9000 cubic metres of screened material is currently lying at the ground in form of dumps and the same would be used by the consultant as base for construction of stadium. “We have already increased the ground level using the same material. With use of these 9000 cubic metres, the level would be further increased,” officer explained.
