“Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink”.The above quote from Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner seems rather apt for the coastal state of Maharashtra..The Bombay High Court today heard a PIL filed by an NGO, Loksatta Movement. The PIL, which states that nearly 60 lakh litres of water will be used for maintaining cricket pitches in Maharashtra during the 2016 edition of the Indian Premier League. The petitioner has sought to move the IPL matches outside Maharashtra, as well as the implementation of the State’s water policy..The mega cricketing event, which starts on April 9, was the centre of attention before Justices Kanade and Karnik in courtroom 43 of the Bombay High Court..The petitioner’s counsel Arsheel Shah and Ankita Vermahighlighted the deplorable condition of the state’s water resources..Argued Shah,.The State has contemplated a decline of 2% in total water reserves within a week (from March 25 to April 1). This is when monsoon is nearly 10-12 weeks away, there will be no water available for drinking! .During the hearing, Shah also mentioned the recent imposition of Section 144 in Latur district due to the water crisis..Appearing for the Mumbai Cricket Association, S Khandepharkar informed the court that approximately 40 lakh litres of water will be spent in the city of Mumbai alone..Khandepharkar also said that the decision to move the matches out of Maharashtra would rest with the BCCI..Justice VM Kanade commented on the BCCI’s stance on this issue..“People in this State don’t get water for 3-4 days. Only if BCCI’s water supply is cut you will understand.”.Although the matter was eventually adjourned to tomorrow, Kanade J did question the State’s silence on the issue:.“Why are you wasting water like this? Are these IPL matches more important than the people? How can you be so careless? This is criminal wastage. You know what the condition of the State is. We are not against IPL but 40 lakh litres!”.Perhaps indicating which way the court may lean towards during tomorrow’s hearing, Justice Kanade added that,.“Ideally, you should shift the IPL matches to some other State where water is in abundance.”.The petitioners have also sought the interim relief of restraining all cricket associations in Maharashtra from using water to maintain the pitches. This relief will considered the request during tomorrow’s hearing.
“Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink”.The above quote from Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner seems rather apt for the coastal state of Maharashtra..The Bombay High Court today heard a PIL filed by an NGO, Loksatta Movement. The PIL, which states that nearly 60 lakh litres of water will be used for maintaining cricket pitches in Maharashtra during the 2016 edition of the Indian Premier League. The petitioner has sought to move the IPL matches outside Maharashtra, as well as the implementation of the State’s water policy..The mega cricketing event, which starts on April 9, was the centre of attention before Justices Kanade and Karnik in courtroom 43 of the Bombay High Court..The petitioner’s counsel Arsheel Shah and Ankita Vermahighlighted the deplorable condition of the state’s water resources..Argued Shah,.The State has contemplated a decline of 2% in total water reserves within a week (from March 25 to April 1). This is when monsoon is nearly 10-12 weeks away, there will be no water available for drinking! .During the hearing, Shah also mentioned the recent imposition of Section 144 in Latur district due to the water crisis..Appearing for the Mumbai Cricket Association, S Khandepharkar informed the court that approximately 40 lakh litres of water will be spent in the city of Mumbai alone..Khandepharkar also said that the decision to move the matches out of Maharashtra would rest with the BCCI..Justice VM Kanade commented on the BCCI’s stance on this issue..“People in this State don’t get water for 3-4 days. Only if BCCI’s water supply is cut you will understand.”.Although the matter was eventually adjourned to tomorrow, Kanade J did question the State’s silence on the issue:.“Why are you wasting water like this? Are these IPL matches more important than the people? How can you be so careless? This is criminal wastage. You know what the condition of the State is. We are not against IPL but 40 lakh litres!”.Perhaps indicating which way the court may lean towards during tomorrow’s hearing, Justice Kanade added that,.“Ideally, you should shift the IPL matches to some other State where water is in abundance.”.The petitioners have also sought the interim relief of restraining all cricket associations in Maharashtra from using water to maintain the pitches. This relief will considered the request during tomorrow’s hearing.
