The move to shift IPl matches out of drought-affected Maharashtra after May 1 has got the seal of approval from the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, the court refused to entertain the appeals filed by the Maharashtra Cricket Association and Mumbai Cricket Association to hold the matches using sewage-treated water for the stadium and field. The Bench, headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur, dismissed the appeals and said, “Instead of the entire match getting controversial by using sewage water for the field, it is better that you shift the match out.”
The Bombay High Court had already directed 13 matches to be shifted out of Mumbai, Nagpur, and Pune with the exception of one match to be played in Pune on May 1.
The cricket associations, represented by senior advocates P Chidambaram and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, submitted that they required just over 4.8 lakh litres of sewage water for six days. But the Bench said, “The issue is whether you can waste so much water when there is drought affecting the State.”