Will use treated sewage water for ground maintenance: BCCI

With the Bombay High Court raising questions, the BCCI today said that it will procure treated sewage water for ground maintenance for IPL matches in drought-hit Maharashtra.

“We have tied-up with Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) to procure treated sewage water for the IPL matches to be played in Pune and Mumbai,” Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) counsel Rafiq Dada submitted.

The high court bench of Justices V M Kanade and M S Karnik was hearing a PIL filed by NGO Loksatta Movement, challenging the use of large quantities of water in stadiums despite the state being drought-hit.

Nine Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches would be played in Pune and eight in Mumbai. Of the eight in Mumbai, one has already been held, the BCCI’s counsel told the court.

Three matches are slated to be held in Nagpur, and IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab has agreed to shift matches to Mohali or elsewhere if the HC tells it, he said. Everyday, 7-8 tankers of treated sewage water would be supplied to the stadiums, Dada said.

The concept of using treated sewage water should be encouraged because after treating the sewage water, it is released into the sea and goes waste, he said. “In this case, instead of discharging treated sewage water into the sea, we are using it in the stadiums,” the BCCI counsel said.

The high court had pulled up the BCCI during the last hearing on the use of large quantities of water for ground maintenance. The BCCI has taken very seriously the issue of using water in stadiums in view of the drought situation in Maharashtra, he said.

The matter has been adjourned after lunch as government pleader Abhinandan Vagyani sought time to file an affidavit on the stand of the state administration on the issue.