During a match at MA Chidambaram Stadium
If you’re headed to the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk on April 3 for the Chennai Super Kings vs Lucknow Super Giants match in the Indian Premier League, watch the sidelines for an engaging stability drill.
Efforts will be made to ensure that waste is segregated at source – waste was found at the allotted stands (at C, D and E on 3rd April) during a match. What’s meant to be recycled will go to the recycling cart. What’s for composting will go to the one earmarked for it.
The Greater Chennai Corporation, and Arbesar Sumeeth, a waste management company engaged by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, have put together a “Green Protocol” that focuses on the three R’s – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
Under this initiative, the use of plastic inside the stadium will be banned from the entrance itself. Use of cloth bags and cloth banners will be encouraged. Adequate number of green and blue colored dustbins will be provided for disposal of wet and dry waste inside and outside the stadium.
“For the first time, we have drawn up a plan to ensure waste – though only in one set of stands allocated to each match – is segregated off-campus,” says Mahmood Sait, chief executive of Urbseer Sumeet.
An active waste-segregation process may be initiated for each stand allotted to the match itself. Seven matches are to be held in Chepauk.
Apart from the stands, the concourse – where other stakeholders including police, fire personnel and vendors are seen the most – will be kept strictly under this process.
Waste management at IPL matches was on the drawing board for a while.
The third ODI between India and Australia at Chepauk served as a platform to try out some of these plans.
“We put in place a strong waste management team outside the stadium to ensure that waste is being disposed of responsibly. For IPL, we wanted to give a strong message on segregation of waste at source,” says Sait.
VR Hari Balaji, head of information, education and communication at the company, says that a tonne of waste was generated during the India-Australia match.
Through special announcements and displays on digital boards, we hope to send a loud message on responsible waste management, says Balaji.
Water was sold in paper cups during the India-Australia match. “We didn’t want too many paper cups in the bins, and so we have spoken to the vendor and suggested limiting the number of paper cups in circulation for the upcoming matches,” says Balaji.
Food and beverage counters are another area of intense focus: Ground staff have been told to increase the frequency of garbage clearance. Garbage picker machine will also be installed to pick up the garbage.
For the May 6 match between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, student volunteers from a city college will help clear garbage from the stands, says Balaji.
from other stadiums
Following ‘Green Protocol’ is not a new exercise. For the past few years, the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru has been taking steps to ensure that IPL matches are zero litter and have proper waste management. Food vendors are asked to use areca leaf plates and corn starch plates instead of disposable plastic cups and plates.
Holkar Stadium in Indore and Ekana Stadium in Lucknow have also followed green practices in IPL matches.