Water crisis poses no threat to IPL games in Chinnaswamy Stadium

A source in the KSCA said there should be no problem in hosting the three games as the ground is one of the four cricket venues in India that complies with the NGT order on having Rain Water Harvesting and STP and not using ground water for maintenance of outfield and the square.

Bengaluru: There appears to be no immediate threat to the conduct of three Indian Premier League matches in the first leg of the tournament at the Chinnaswamy Stadium with the KSCA saying they are confident of complying with the new order from the state government as the water processed from the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) at the stadium would meet their demands.

Bengaluru is reeling under a severe water crisis this summer and the hard-pressed Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board issued an order last week, prohibiting the use of drinking and ground water for non-essential purposes like gardening, vehicle washing among other non-essential utilisation while directing huge apartment complexes and offices to use STP water for such activities.

“We are studying the new government order and I don’t want to say anything before we go through it completely,” said KSCA CEO Shubendu Ghosh. “The office bearers and I are having detailed discussions on it and we are confident of complying with the norms that have been laid out. KSCA already has an STP and we just need to figure out what the new stipulations are and how we can abide by them.”

A source in the KSCA said there should be no problem in hosting the three games -- March 25, 29 and April 2 -- as the ground is one of the four cricket venues in the country that complies with the National Green Tribunal order on having Rain Water Harvesting and STP and not using ground water for maintenance of outfield and the square.

“On an average we use approximately 10,000 litres once in two days to water the outfield. But all that water is sourced from STP. We process a lot of sewage water from the city to maintain the outfield. We don’t use a drop of drinking or groundwater to water the outfield. We are self-sufficient in that regard.

"Also, whenever it rains, because of the state of the art RWH, we don’t lose much of it. Even one mm of rainfall helps us collect 15,000 litres of water which we use for ground maintenance. Yes, it hasn’t rained this year but the water treated at STP should meet our water requirement."