PILs against water use for IPL pitches in drought-hit Maharashtra

Terming as serious issue the droughtlike situation in Maharashtra the Bombay High Court on Tuesday said it needs to look into it while hearing a PIL against use of water for the purpose of maintaining pitches prior to the Indian Premier League IPL tournamentBesides another similar PIL filed in the high court today by former journalist Ketan Tirodkar sought a direction to the IPL Commissioner to pay tax on water as about 60000 litres per day would be required to maintain the pitchesA division bench headed by Justice V M Kanade was hearing the PIL filed by NGO Loksatta Movement challenging the use of nearly 60 lakh litres of water to maintain pitches at three stadiums in the state which will hold IPL matchesThis is a serious issue and we need to look into it the high court said and posted the PIL for hearing tomorrow According to the petition the state is reeling under a drought and acute water shortage as levels in dams and lakes have gone downThere is already a scarcity of drinking water and water for sanitation purposes and the state authorities are turning a blind eye the petition saidIt said that under the Maharashtra State Water policy the government has prioritised use of water and usage of water for recreation and other purposes comes last in the priority listThe Mumbai Cricket Association MCA today told the high court that tickets for the IPL matches have been already sold and huge loss would be caused if they are cancelledThe court while posting the PIL for hearing tomorrow sought responses from all other respondents including the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium Vidarbha Cricket Association Maharashtra government and the civic bodies of Mumbai and NagpurMeanwhile Tirodkar in his petition sought a direction to IPL Commissioner to pay tax on water as about 60000 litres per day would be required to maintain pitchesHe sought an undertaking from state government that it would supply 1000 litres of water per day to each family of droughthit districts till the time rains fill up the needThe IPL Commissioner should be asked to pay tax of Rs 1000 per litre for meeting expenses of supplying water to the droughtaffected district said the PIL which is expected to come up for hearing soonThe IPL tournament is set to begin from April 9 with the first match to be played in Mumbais Wankhede Stadium A total of 20 matches will be played in Mumbai Pune and NagpurThe finals of the tournament scheduled on May 29 will also be held at Wankhede Stadium in MumbaiMaharashtra is facing acute shortage of water for the past two decades right from Mumbai to Vidarbha and Marathwada and the gravity of the situation can be seen by 3228 farmers suicides across the state in 2015 Tirodkars PIL saidThe high court has already taken suomotu cognisance of the drought situation leading to suicides by farmers across the state the petitioner saidIt is in the backdrop of this scenario that one fails to see a welfare state holding IPL cricket league matches in Mumbai Navi Mumbai Pune and elsewhere in the state the petition submittedThe pitch maintenance in these stadiums will consume 60000 litres of water every day said the PIL Quoting statistics from the records available with the authorities the petition said that in 2013 about 65 lakh litres water had been used at three stadiums for IPL matches Wankhede stadium in Mumbai D Y Patil in Navi Mumbai and the Sahara stadium in Pune The same scenario is going to repeat this year also the PIL saidTirodkar further said that the Maharashtra government has decided to supply 50 wagons containing 55000 litres water each to Latur district which amounts to approximately 30 lakh litres Due to drought situation every house is currently getting 20 litres of water per day the PIL saidPune the cultural capital of the state is also not spared from the water crunch Remote areas in the state are witnessing Ethiopiaiquesttype situation Malnutrition has been claiming thousands of lives in the state every year and lakhs of trees have been ruined for want of rains the PIL pointedout