Maharashtra drought: Bombay HC asks BCCI to Shift IPL matches out of state, but water woes remains

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to shift all Indian Premier League (IPL) matches out of Maharashtra after April 30.

This means only six IPL matches will be played in the state, and 13, including the final, will go out. The HC passed the order to ensure that non-potable water is not wasted in maintaining grounds and pitches at stadiums.

A division bench of Justice V M Kanade and Justice M S Karnik said: "We give you (BCCI) 15 days to take steps to move out the matches to venues outside the state."

The bench, in its order, said: "The stand of the state government is disturbing. On the one hand, it is saying we don't mind shifting IPL out of Maharashtra, and, on the other, it is passing the buck on controlling the misuse of potable water to the corporation. It is a matter of record that there is scarcity of water in Maharashtra and this High Court cannot be a mute spectator."

The court noted that media reports indicated only King's XI Punjab have shown willingness to play out of Nagpur. "We were expecting Mumbai Indians and the Pune franchisee to show readiness...," the Bench said.

Earlier in the day, the BCCI had agreed to the queries raised by the court on Tuesday, about providing donation to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund and providing non-potable water to areas suffering from scarcity.

Counsel Rafiq Dada informed the court that Rs 5 crore would be paid by two IPL franchisees, Mumbai and Pune. But it would be on the basis of a court order and not on its own as it would land them in trouble with the Income-Tax department. It was also willing to supply 64 lakh litres of treated sewage water to areas specified by the government, free of cost, the counsel said.

However, the petitioner, Loksatta Movement, an NGO, argued that such water is not good for irrigation and also not conducive for use by humans. It placed on record two reports indicating the same.

The state government is now expected to suffer a loss of around Rs 19.5 crore in revenue because of matches moving out: "The government would not have been in favour of IPL if potable water was used for maintaining grounds and pitches. We cannot stop all recreational activities and gatherings because of a drought-like situation in the state... We rely on the good consciousness of organisers to use water properly," the state argued.

Loksatta Movement had claimed that around 40-60 lakh litres of water will be used to maintain pitches and this could instead be diverted to people facing severe water shortage in Vidarbha and Marathwada regions.