The court ruled that the water crisis in the state could be solved if water used in maintaining cricket pitches was diverted to drought-affected areas.
The Bombay High Court has ruled that cricket grounds in Maharashtra will not host Indian Premier League (IPL) matches after April 30.
The court ruled that the water crisis in the state could be solved if water used in maintaining cricket pitches was diverted to drought-affected areas.
The ruling implies that 13 matches in the tournament will have to be shifted out of Maharashtra. Six of these 13 were to be played in Pune, three in Nagpur and four, including the final, in Mumbai.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appealed that shifting matches out of Maharashtra was not feasible because of concerns over financial investments. Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiants were both willing to donate Rs 5 crore each to the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s Drought Relief Fund. On Tuesday, the BCCI also made a case for using treated sewage water to prepare cricket grounds in Mumbai and Pune. But the court has argued that matches could not go on beyond April 30.
IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla has said that moving out of Maharashtra would be a “problem” but the BCCI was working on an alternative.
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