Maharashtra drought: Bombay High Court raps cricket body; says people are more important than IPL

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday rapped Maharashtra Cricket body for the wastage of water for IPL matches.

The Court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking directions to the government and cricket boards to not water the pitches during the forthcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) crickets season, starting from April 9.

Questioning the cricket body if the people or IPL matches were more important, the court asked, “How can you waste water like this? How can you be so careless.”

“Only if water supply to BCCI is cut will you understand,” said the High Court, suggesting that IPL matches be shifted to other states which do not face a shortage of water, reported NDTV.

The IPL tournament is set to begin from April 9 with the first match to be played in Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. A total of 20 matches will be played in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur. The finals of the tournament scheduled on May 29 will also be held at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) had on Tuesday told the high court that tickets for the IPL matches have been already sold and huge loss would be caused if they are cancelled.

The court had sought responses from all other respondents, including the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Vidarbha Cricket Association, Maharashtra government and the civic bodies of Mumbai and Nagpur.

Besides, another similar PIL, filed in the high court by former journalist Ketan Tirodkar, sought a direction to the IPL Commissioner to pay tax on water, as about 60,000 litres per day would be required to maintain the pitches.

The pitch maintenance in these stadiums will consume 60,000 litres of water every day, said the PIL.

Maharashtra is facing acute shortage of water for the past two decades, right from Mumbai to Vidarbha and Marathwada and the gravity of the situation can be seen by 3,228 farmers’ suicides across the state in 2015, Tirodkar’s PIL said.

The high court has already taken suo-motu cognisance of the drought situation leading to suicides by farmers across the state, the petitioner said.

IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla on Tuesday ruled out shifting the matches out of Maharashtra due to drought and water scarcity in the state.