Bombay High Court orders IPL out of parched Maharashtra

Mumbai: Severely criticising the Maharashtra government for its “apathy” over solving the state’s water problems, the Bombay high court on Wednesday directed that all Indian Premier League matches due to be held after April 30 be shifted out of Maharashtra in view of the drought-like situation in the state.

The court has given the Board of Cricket Control in India and the organisers of IPL matches 18 days to look for new venues and make logistical arrangements. This means that 13 IPL matches will not be played in Maharashtra.

Though the division bench of Justices V.M. Kanade and M.S. Karnik agreed with one of the respondents that shifting the IPL out of Maharashtra was not the solution to the problem, considering the current situation it had to be shifted. The BCCI assured the court it would contribute Rs 5 crores to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund and also provide the amount of water (over 60 lakh litres, which would have been used for IPL matches) to the drought-affected villages. The bench, however, said: “We agree that merely shifting IPL matches out of the state will not be a solution, but this can be a beginning to address the drought situation in Maharashtra.” It added several people were dying due to water scarcity in the state. “This court cannot ignore the plight of such people and so directs that matches be shifted outside Maharashtra,” the bench said.

When senior counsel Rafique Dada informed the court that as per its orders the Royal Western India Turf Club had also given an undertaking that only treated sewage water would be used to maintain pitches for IPL matches, the petitioner’s lawyer, D.H. Mehta, objected and said using treated sewage water could be unhealthy and could even effect the health of players.

The court was hearing a PIL filed by Hyderabad-based NGOs Loksatta Movement and Foundation of Democratic Reforms challenging the use of huge amounts of water to maintain pitches for IPL matches when the state was facing an acute water shortage.

After hearing arguments, the petitioners, as well as interveners, who opposed IPL matches in Maharashtra, at least this year, the bench observed it was expected that the BCCI and organisers of IPL matches would come forward on their own and shift the matches out of Maharashtra to save water, but unfortunately, nothing had been done.

“The court has now no other option but to direct the BCCI to transfer matches out of Maharashtra,” the bench said. The judges said several districts in Maharashtra were not even getting water for sanitation and non-potable water used by the stadiums to maintain pitches could be of use in such districts.

Before disposing of the petition, the bench said it would continue monitoring the implementation of the water policy by the state government in similar petitions.

“The situation in Marathwada is very acute with people there not getting a single drop of water for many days. All dams and rivers have gone dry and water had to be supplied via train to Latur,” the court noted.

Pulling up the state, the court said: “The state government has turned a blind eye to the entire issue. We are disturbed by the government’s stand and ultimately it is clear the government is trying to pass on the buck to the municipal corporations by saying the government has not supplied any water to stadiums.”

The court also said it was clear the state government has not taken any action and just asked the concerned civic body to conduct an inquiry to ascertain if drinking water is being misused. The bench was of the opinion that if IPL matches are shifted outside Maharashtra, at the most the BCCI and IPL franchises would suffer a financial loss.

After April 30, 13 matches were due to be held in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur, including the eliminator match on May 25 and qualifier match on May 27 in Pune and the finals on May 29 in Mumbai.