The Bombay High Court on Wednesday, April 6th, lashed out at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Mumbai Cricket Association’s (MCA) defence against the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed for wastage of water during the Indian Premier League (IPL), and suggested moving matches out of Maharashtra.
A division bench headed by Justice V M Kanade and M S Karnik said,”How can you waste water like this? Are people more important or IPL? Who wastes water like this? This is criminal wastage. You know what the condition is in Maharashtra.” They further said, “Ideally, you should shift the IPL matches to some other state where water is in abundance.”
The High Court shot back at the MCA’s argument that it purchases non-drinkable water for its use.
The PIL was filed by the Loksatta Movement, stating that it would cost the state close to 60 lakh litres of water to tend to the pitches for the 20 games slated to be held across three venues in the state – Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur during the ninth edition of IPL.
The advocates of the petitioners stated that,”During the Kumbh Mela in Nashik, the High Court had passed a judgment to stop water for Shahi Snan, saying that it infringes Article 21 of the Constitution of India (protection of life and personal liberty), as water was scarce due to the drought in the state. As per the policy, water should be first given for domestic use then industrial, agricultural, environment and others.”
MCA, in its defence, argued that the tickets for the games have already been sold, and moving games out at the last minute would result in massive losses for the governing body and the associated parties.The hearing has been adjourned to Thursday.
The ninth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will start from April 9,2016 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
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