Hyderabad: Much-anticipated Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to kick off on Friday with the tournament opener to be played between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The tournament is popular because of the exciting action it provides but it has created a buzz due to issues off the field as well.
In the IPL 2024, The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) decided to supply treated water to Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy stadium for odd jobs like pitch preparation and sprinkling. A cricket stadium needs usually 15,000-20,000 litres of water daily for its maintenance.
Apart from the spot-fixing scandal and a ban on franchises, water scarcity was also one issue due to which a lot of people threw criticism at the scheduling of the competition. The competition might also face some criticism this time around with Bangalore facing a shortage of water. Today, on the occasion of World Water Day, we look at the instances when the league became the centre of attention due to a shortage of water in a particular state.
2016 was the year when the chain of events started as the country was battling with a water crisis. Questions were raised over the scheduling of matches in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and
Chhattisgarh and there were protests around the issue as well.
Before the commencement of the 2016 edition, the Maharashtra government had declared drought in more than 29,000 villages. The Lok Satta Movement filed a petition in the Bombay High Court back then to shift all the matches outside the state which were to be played on grounds situated in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur. Still, Mumbai Indians hosted Rising Pune Supergiants in the tournament opener on April 9.
Although Mumbai and Pune franchises promised to use the sewage-treated water and also donate to the relief fund, the court ordered 13 matches in the tournament to be moved out of Maharashtra. Mumbai and Maharashtra Cricket Associations filed petitions in the Supreme Court against the motion but they were dismissed. There were petitions filed in Rajasthan and Chattisgarh as well.
Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar reacted to all this development saying IPL has become a soft target.
“What do you think has been happening for the last 9-10 years?, It’s always something or the other cropping up before or during the IPL. Whether it's a soft target or not, yes it is a soft target,” he stated.
The sports federations in India can take some lessons from the sports stadiums across the globe. Rabobank Arena in California, the Lord’s and the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the UK and Australia respectively use recycled water for irrigation and sprinkling on the playing field area and the Indian venues can pull off the same trick as well.
