Raipur (Chhattisgarh): The fourth T20I clash between India and Australia at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium is being played in generator lights after it faced a power crisis.
The Indian team leads the five-match series 2-1 after winning the games in Visakhapatnam and Trivandrum, while Australia won the game in Guwahati courtesy Glenn Maxwell's brilliance.
Sources said that the overdue bill of Rs 3.16 crore led to the disconnection of electricity at the stadium about five years ago. The Chhattisgarh State Cricket Association requested a temporary link be provided, as it serves only for the commentary and other boxes and spectator gallery.
CSCA officials said that they will be using generators to power the floodlights for the match. The issue is from 2018 when athletes were participating in a half-marathon and power was snapped for non-payment of electricity dues. It was subsequently declared that the outstanding electricity bill had not been paid since 2009.
Ashok Khandelwal, Raipur Rural Circle in-charge stated, "The connection was on the name of Cricket Construction Committee in the PWD Department in 2010. Till 2018, Rs 3.16 crore was outstanding because electricity was disconnected. We continuously corresponded for payment of the pending bill, but this amount was not paid. Later it was told that this amount would be paid by the Sports and Youth Welfare Department.”
"The Cricket Association secretary applied for an increase in the capacity of the temporary connection. Although approval for upgrading to 1,000 KV has been given, implementation remains pending,” added Khandelwal.
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