Published: Apr 29, 2016, 01:26 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 29, 2016, 01:26 PM (IST)
After a lot of debates regarding their new home ground for Indian Premier League (IPL) season nine, Mumbai Indians (MI) have finally settled with Visakhapatnam as their home ground for the rest of their home matches. The Maharashtra drought situations made Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to shift the matches slated in May from the state to some other place, as demanded by Bombay High Court. Maharashtra was home to three venues this IPL, including Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune and Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur and all the matches are set to be shifted to other venues. READ: No IPL 2016 matches in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur in May; Supreme Court backs HC’s
Earlier, Supreme Court had also backed Bombay High Court’s decision. A bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur was initially inclined to allow the matches in west Indian state of Maharashtra with some strict conditions like the stadium authorities will not be permitted to use “even a drop of potable water” for their matches.
However, the bench also comprising Justices R Banumathi and U U Lalit dismissed the petition and said that let the matches be shifted out of the state. At the outset, senior advocate P Chidambaram and A M Singhvi, appearing for the state cricket bodies, sought a stay on the Bombay High Court order, saying that they will not be using potable water for any cricketing activity in stadiums in Mumbai and Pune and rather use treated sewage water.
The bench, during the hearing, sought response from the lawyers about the claim that 60 lakh litres of water would be required for maintenance of the grounds on the eve of IPL matches which were scheduled to be played in the state. Chidambaram referred to certain letters and said that the stadiums would be needing 10,000 litres a day for six days and potable water will not be used.
