PANJIM, OCT 20
The State Government will have to look out for alternate place to conduct Republic Day parade as PWD is likely to lose Campal Parade Ground to encroachers in the near future.
It’s over six months now that some hawkers and their families have made Campal Parade ground their home by putting up ramshackle huts on one side of the ground.
But surprisingly PWD office is not aware of the invaders on its property. When this reporter contacted the PWD officer in-charge, he said he would look into it even as he claimed that they removed some encroachment in the past but huts keep coming up.
The Campal parade ground is though owned by PWD, is maintained by the Corporation of the City of Panjim (CCP). When contacted, a CCP official, while acknowledging that they do maintain it, said that they requested PWD several times to remove the encroachments but nothing has been done so far.
A CCP corporator on condition of anonymity said the encroachers are being protected by a powerful politician and that is why the PWD has not dared to touch them.
