Dhangadhi is a step closer to becoming the city of cricket after it recently revealed the design of the proposed international cricket stadium. Fapla International Cricket Stadium Construction Campaign convener Subash Shahi has urged for people from all over to share their advice and cooperate with the project to make it successful. If you want to read more about the financial and funding side of the project then this article (in Nepali) might be more useful for you – click here.
My first question was, what is FAPLA and the answer is “its the name of the locality”.
The cricket stadium which will be built under a public-private partnership is expected to put Dhangadhi on the map and attract many international-scale cricketing events in the far-western region.
I haven’t had the opportunity to speak to the creator of the designs/stadium but some of my questions/advice/recommendation is around:
- What are the sustainable practices that will be in use during the construction process and of the overall building design? Are there more sustainable materials for the buildings, for the lights, for electricity generation, use of solar panels, water recycling, street lights, waste disposal etc?
- From the image, I can only see one block of toilets and I am sure there will be more than 1 block since this stadium is expected to have 40,000 people; however I would like to add that toilet and sink facilities must be available and in large numbers for public venues of such large size.
- Lifespan and longevity is very important – at times we have seen large-scale infrastructure development to quickly lose public interest and suddenly be called a ‘loss making venture’, for that to not happen, the committee needs to make sure that the cricket stadium holds a strong sense of purpose and is utilized through various means and is able to continue bringing in revenue as well as providing employment for those in Fapla and Dhangadhi. Plans, must be realistic.
- Is there required infrastructure around the proposed cricket stadium? For 40,000 thousand people to access the stadium, the location must be well connected by roads and local transport networks/links. Likewise, a quick access roads to the major highways/airports and towns/city is a priority.
- I am not sure what will be underneath the seats of the stadium and the design team may have already thought about it but the space below the seats can be used for players changing rooms, press/media rooms, cafeteria for public and additional toilets could be located there. Basically maximise the space use.
Anyways’ those are just things floating around in my head. Do you guys have any questions or advice about the proposed international cricket stadium? It is indeed an exciting development! Then again, kuro ta tehi ho, kahile bannine ho’ tyo chahi hernu baki nai huncha. It would be nice if such a stadium of that scale is constructed in Dhangadhi as Dhangadi is a lovely place and I definitely believe that a lot of such developments and projects need to take place outside of Kathmandu.
Last words; sustainable design matters, go green wherever possible, design for the future (a design that supports itself).
