IPL 2018 : NGT sends legal notice to BCCI over wastage of water in IPL

The anticipation is building up for the start of IPL 2018, as the eleventh edition of India’s cricket carnival is less than three weeks from now.

No one could have imagined the impact that this tournament would have had when the first match kicked off at the Chinnaswamy stadium back in 2008. Indian cricket, and world cricket to an extent, was never the same again, as IPL completely changed the we saw our beloved game.

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This year’s edition will see the return of CSK and RR, as the former champions will come back after serving their two-year suspension. Both sides were extremely busy during the auction, as they stuck to bringing back their old core set of players.

CSK in particular bought their ‘old’ side, with old being the operative word. RR bought a strong set of players, with their original star, Steve Smith, set to skipper their side.

SRH and DD also had strong windows, while the likes of RCB, KKR, MI and KXIP will all be in the hunt for the title this year.

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But the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to BCCI and IPL, and asked them not to waste crucial water resources in maintaining grounds at IPL venues.

“Direct the authorities to stop holding the cash-rich tournament for commercial purpose which would be played at nine venues commencing April 7,” the plea said.

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“The 11th edition of IPL will be played at nine venues across 51 days and lakhs of litres of water is to be used for preparing pitches and in the stadium for playing 60 matches which would adversely affect the ground water level, ecosystem and the ecology of the country,” the petition remarked.

There were similar pleas last year as well, as drought affected Maharashtra were ready to boycott matches held in Mumbai and Pune. BCCI and IPL will need to send a response in a couple of days, and are expected to meet on the April 28th for the next hearing.