The Chief Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday ordered several cricket associations to submit responses by the end of May on the status of measures and permits for using treated water and rainwater for ground maintenance. He warned that he would sue if he did. For pumping groundwater. The answers are being sought in a lawsuit related to compliance with the court's 2021 order.
In 2021, the tribunal had directed the Center and BCCI to regulate groundwater extraction and ensure effective rainwater harvesting for the maintenance of cricket grounds. The bench, headed by Chairman Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Justice Sudhir Agarwal and Expert Member Senthil Behl, gave the cricket association three weeks to submit its response. NGT was published in December last year. 22 cricket associations and stadium authorities notified seeking reports of action taken on this issue.
“As many as 22 states have implemented, but only 9 states have responded (to the Dec. 7, 2024 order). Parties that have not yet submitted their responses will have one final opportunity of three weeks. ,” the court said.
“If no response is filed, action will be taken,” the court said. It also directed central and state groundwater authorities to expeditiously process applications seeking permission for extraction of groundwater.
The Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) told the court last year that 24 of the 26 stadiums had wells or tube wells for pumping groundwater. Of these 24 stadiums, those that had obtained permission to use ground water and followed instructions for the use of treated water were M Chinnaswamy in Bangalore, Vidarbha Cricket Association in Nagpur, Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and his JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi. There were only his four stadiums in the stadium complex.
CGWA had also submitted in an affidavit last year that 11 grounds were found to be in violation of the court's 2021 order. They are Eden Gardens, Kolkata, Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamshala, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium, Lucknow, Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad, Sports Hub International Cricket Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram, Dr YS Rajasekara Reddy Cricket Stadium, Vizag, Green Park Stadium, Kanpur, IS Bindra Cricket Stadium, Mohali, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, Chaudhary Bansi Lal Stadium, Haryana Lari.
The sanctioned associations are Assam Cricket Association, Chhattisgarh Cricket Sangh, Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, Cricket Club of India, Mumbai, Odisha, Rajasthan, Saurashtra, Vidarbha and Maharaja. It is the cricket association of the Canton of Stra.
© Indian Express Private Limited
Date first uploaded: March 5, 2024 03:37 IST