IPL Controversies- Part 22: Maharashtra Water Crisis and Aftermath
The Lok Satta Movement filed a petition to the Bombay High Court, requesting to shift all IPL matches for the season outside the Maharashtra grounds of Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur. Thirteen matches were eventually rescheduled.
Before the 2016 edition of the Indian Premier League, the Maharashtra government declared a drought in over 29,000 villages in the state. The Lok Satta Movement filed a petition to the Bombay High Court, requesting to shift all IPL matches for the season outside the three Maharashtra grounds, in Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur. Despite that, on April 9, Mumbai Indians hosted Rising Pune Supergiants in the tournament opener in Wankhede Stadium. IPL Controversies- Part 19: Andre Russell’s Stop-Start Delivery in 2014.
However, on April 13, the Bombay High Court ordered all IPL matches scheduled to be played at the three venues to be moved to “some other state where water is in abundance”. Barring the tournament opener, neither venue had hosted a match until that point. BCCI contested this on the grounds that they would be using tankers for water supply and will not be using water provided by the corporation.
BCCI moved Supreme Court, even as Mumbai and Pune continued to host matches. Finally, on April 27, the Supreme Court stayed the High Court’s order. With the exception one match, which was played in Pune on May 1, the remaining 13 matches were moved outside Maharashtra. IPL Controversies- Part 18: Pune Warriors India Removed in 2013.
Mumbai originally wanted to play in Jaipur, Rajasthan. However, Rajasthan had also been hit by drought that year, and the Rajasthan High Court challenged the decision. Eventually, Mumbai and Pune’s home matches to Visakhapatnam, Kings XI Punjab’s home matches to Mohali, and the Playoffs to Bengaluru and Delhi.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 13, 2021 07:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).