High Court allows IPL opener at Wankhede

Bench orders Maharashtra govt to reply by April 12 on how the cricket ground gets gallons of water

The Bombay High Court (HC) allowed the first match of the Indian Premiere League (IPL) 2016 on Thursday, to be played on Saturday, at Mumbai's Wankhede stadium. However, the argument over the usage of excessive water to maintain cricket pitches in Maharashtra, which is suffering from acute water crisis, took prominence again.

The court has asked the state government to submit a detailed report on Tuesday over the source of water that Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) uses.

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Maharashtra's acting advocate general Rohit Deo, on Thursday, told the court that currently authorities supply 22,000 liters of water every day to the Wankhede stadium and it is not clear how the cricket body gets access to the gallons of water that it uses to maintain the pitches. The MCA had told the court on Wednesday that an estimated amount of 40 lakh liters of water will be used in the stadium during the seven IPL matches this year.

The Bench, comprising Justice V M Kanade and M S  Karnik, slammed the Board of Control for Cricket in India as its lawyers argued about the importance of water to maintain its pitches across the year. The Bench questioned whether maintaining pitches is more important than people's lives, as its lawyers cited examples on how less amount of water is used during IPL matches compared to idle days.

Citing the disparity between common people and the cricket body in terms of access to potable water, Justice Kanade said, "Here are people who can use as much water as they want, while people in Thane get water once in three days". The HC judge told Deo, that making water available to common citizens is a question of political will and asked him to ensure that water is provided to all.

While, the court allowed the first IPL match of the season to go on as scheduled, since two days are left for the opener. The argument on whether the other nineteen matches that are scheduled this year in Maharashtra can be played will continue on April 12.