Sawant says land leased 7 years ago, gives association two years to start groundwork
Special Correspondent
Panaji: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday warned Goa Cricket Association (GCA) that failure on its part to start construction of the proposed cricket stadium at Dhargal in Pernem taluka within the next two years will force the government to reclaim its land given for the purpose.
“GCA has shown no seriousness about the Dhargal cricket stadium and if the groundwork doesn’t begin within two years, the land would be taken back by the government,” he said adding that GCA is free
to shift the project to other land in its position, located at Maulinguem, if it decides so.
Replying to a related query from Pernem MLA Pravin Arlekar, Sawant said that as per a 2018 agreement, the 1.89 lakh sq mt land in Dhargal village
has been leased by the government to GCA for the purpose of construction of an international cricket stadium.
“However, even after eight years, GCA has not started the related work on the land, and the government has already issued a show-cause notice to the Association in 2024,” Sawant, who holds the Sports and Youth Affairs portfolio, said.
He further said the government is not satisfied with the explanation given to the notice.
“Now, taking back this land is important and the government will do all that is necessary as per the procedure,” Sawant said revealing that GCA needed to pay Rs 19 crore to the government for the Dhargal land, but has paid only Rs 9 crore so far.
Speaking further, the Chief Minister informed the House that out of the 153 sports grounds in the state, only 10 to 12 grounds are actively used and the rest are abandoned. “Tomorrow, we could even have 191 sports grounds in Goa, one per panchayat,” he said, observing that no other state has so many grounds in comparison.
Sawant also said that the Dhargal land is in prime property, especially after the starting of the Mopa airport.
Leader of the opposition Yuri Alemao said the agreement between the government and GCA for construction of the stadium includes neither pendency clause nor requirement for performance audit.
Goa Forward party MLA Vijai Sardesai said that when former chief minister Manohar Parrikar had selected the particular land, he had done so by considering the location of the land. “GCA has already paid Rs 10 crore to the government and the government just cannot take back the land,” he argued.
