When IPL becomes more important than thirsty Maharashtra
Once again the IPL season is here. For a country where cricket is considered a religion, IPL is treated as a religious festival where people celebrate their favourite teams and players. Needless to mention that IPL stands for Indian Premier League which is the most attended cricket league in the world and contributed US $182 million to the GDP of Indian economy in 2015.
The winner of 2015 IPL season was Mumbai Indians team who has Mumbai as its home ground. Mumbai Cricket Association was recently in the news after Bombay High court thrashed BCCI and cricket associations for wasting so much of water in the state for making cricket grounds look lush green and better for cameras where the same state is suffering from the worst hit drought in a century.
An NGO called Loksatta Movement filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and Bombay High Court acting strictly on it called water wastage in IPL matches "a criminal activity". About 60 lakhs litres of water is going to be wasted in three cricket grounds for 20 matches in Maharashtra state where people are dying due to the shortage of potable water.
Marathwada and Latur areas are worst hit by drought. Amravati division have many cases of farmers committing suicides. The situation is worsening but it could have been controlled a bit if our governing bodies would have acted little earlier. Since court has asked BCCI to shift their remaining matches from Maharashtra to other states, BCCI is worried about financial loss since all the tickets have been sold already. Changing venues and refunding tickets would incur a big financial loss.
Mumbai Cricket Association claimed that they have used only non-potable water for cricket fields. Their argument did not satisfied the court as this water could also be used for farming which also needs water.
Being a cricket fan myself, I cannot deny my own love for IPL but when it comes to priorities, a source of entertainment cannot take priority over someone's life. More youth should come forward and support the cause so that no more water is wasted where people are dying to buy 10 litres of water for Rs. 150.
Let us make thirsty people of Maharashtra win IPL this season!
2 comments
This is really a good thing which most of us not aware. It's like a totally black side of glamorous world.
ReplyDeleteAgree!
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