Do you agree with the decision to move IPL matches out of Maharashtra?

April 16, 2016, 6:33 GMT

sxrame7668958

Drought is a serious issue and you need to tackle it on a long term basis. Moving matches is only effecting attention from this serious issue. Answers should be sought from the govt. on what is being done to tackle the water problem. IPL is just a soft target and mark my words this will happen every year!

April 15, 2016, 13:25 GMT

Sidhant

It won't change the situation. Its just deflecting the main issue, IPL is a soft target as the government can easily show the citizens that they are doing something to counter the situation. Whereas, the ground reality won't change. The amount of water consumed by the stadiums is 0.2% of the total water consumption. The teams also offered to use sewage water and contribute to the relief fund. IPL provides an economic boost to the state and employment to the workers, the government and the courts are only increasing the suffering on the common man by this decision. It would be huge logistical challenge and there are various issue with other international quality grounds in our country which hinder their chances of hosting the matches. It is also a severe disadvantage on the teams and their owners.

April 15, 2016, 10:19 GMT

hari_v5412040

No point in moving matches.It will not change situation in any way. moreover chance that some people will benefit by conducting matches and now it's high time that people as well as all other concerned people take necessary steps to overcome the situation throughout the country.

April 15, 2016, 5:59 GMT

hemanth

Being a son to a farmer and being myself a farmer I definitely say a big NO. Don't want to give any lectures to justify my answer through a key board

April 14, 2016, 19:11 GMT

Agnel

The Court missed a golden opportunity to put things in right perspective. One, upholding the right to water by the drought hit people, the court should have admonished the state government and the respective city corporations for this crisis. Second, the court should have imposed on the rich BCCI a requirement that they supply 10 times more water than they consume as a matter of corporate social responsibility (which BCCI on its own does not remember). Third, these three parties should have been collectively asked to erect water desalination plants on the Maharashtra coast so that such water can be used in the future for all the non-potable purposes. Just targeting IPL is of no use. Will the court therefore order all the other entertainment facilities in the state to stop wasting water (say the amusement water parks, the pubs, the restaurants, hockey, football stadiums)?

April 14, 2016, 6:00 GMT

Hitesh

Agree that there is drought situation in Maharashtra and being in Maharashtra I know the pain of water shortages. But still I think it is unfair to move IPL away from Maharashtra since there are many many others who are consuming a humongous amount of water and are not questioned. Moreover these grounds use sewage treated water which is not potable. Drought situation is not being addressed properly and some people are just wanting to make headlines without consideration for the people here. What is government doing with drought tax (Rs.2) per liter on petrol. I think using this money, water can be transported from other states where there is no shortage and provide relief for affected areas instead of wasting time in court for moving IPL matches. Also by doing this, not enough water will be saved to help affected areas and instead, govt has to step in as promised.

April 14, 2016, 4:39 GMT

Hari Sankar

This issue has become politics and not based on any logic. Even the courts have to consider the politics and give decisions accordingly is a concern. During the T20 World cup matches, there was no opposition and for IPL matches the opposition has sprung from somewhere. During the month of May, the monsoon also could begin and therefore this is a blessing in disguise. BCCI and IPL organizers MUST make all efforts to forget Mumbai, Nagpur and Pune and lose no time in making the alternate arrangements.

April 14, 2016, 4:06 GMT

aneesh6411658

BCCI have made a few recommendations, which can be directly used (with immediate effect) to help Latur & the Marathwada region. The BCCI, franchises (as i've read in other articles) and cricket associations are willing to contribute to the CM's fund and help bringing water to the drought areas from elsewhere. Also they are planning to use treated sewage water. I am totally for the people affected by the drought, but if this money can help them along with the water promises, I think it's a win-win situation for all wherein the State would be given a lot of money directly to help Marathwada. If i'm not wrong, the amount (crores of rupees) would be donated. Here, the state should then ensure everything is used for Marathwada and its benefits. Also, further charge the BCCI heavily, so that any surplus requirement for droughts can be taken care of.

April 14, 2016, 1:52 GMT

raj

lets all sit around and find solution to water and drought? without ability to afford water! someone rightly pointed out charge IPL 10 x the money if they want water so much. so the poor can be given 10x more water for the price of 1. simple. the judge and system of purist. but stop something that can feed you? bring investors with money? next time when someone talks about celebration. The poorest of poor have something they want to celebrate and rejoice away from their problems. its universal fact of 1000s of years. Purist should at-least organize kabbadi for their village so farmers have few moments of cheer if not helping them by freeing them from loans. Nonsense and short sighted truely

April 13, 2016, 23:43 GMT

Kuldeep

No, have the matches in Maharashtra but the proceeds from the tickets be donated to the victim of the draught, win both ways in my book.

April 13, 2016, 23:30 GMT

Chandrasekharan

It is not only the BCCI that has to show good civic responsibility, but we as citizens of the country need to do better too. We waste water in our homes while many have to travel miles for it, or have none of it. We should not look for scapegoats to lay our blame on. We are all responsible - and let us do what is right - conserve water.

April 13, 2016, 23:19 GMT

Anon

Part4: Of course you can always argue that if water is taken in trains it must be only for drought relief & not for cricket grounds. But this is a country where while people are starving in some states others are eating a meal for 5000 bucks in five star hotels in our metros. How is that sensitive? I can point out a million inequities that we happily ignore every day. At least the net result is going to be additional funds for drought relief & more train loads of water to the people. 8. Transporting this water by rail from a nearby state is going to cost the BCCI around Rs.2-3 per litre or a maximum of Rs.5 per litre. So that is around Rs. 3.5 crores at the most. Charge them three times the amount and then use the extra 7 crore collected for drought relief. (maybe 6 more train loads)

April 13, 2016, 23:18 GMT

Anon

Part3: 7. The Railways are transporting water in rail wagons to Latur & a few other places in Maharashtra from next week. Each wagon carries 55000 litres of water & each rake of wagons 27.5 lac litres. 3 such rakes or trains is all that the IPL is going to consume. So the BCCI can organize with the Railways to get 3 train loads of water for the IPL & the Govt/Railways use the extra money collected to get 6 more train loads & supply the people of Maharashtra.

April 13, 2016, 23:16 GMT

Srinath

Anybody looked at the economics of it? what will 60 lakh litre save or do, in money terms? The loss of revenue to the state will be much higher than the Value for money of this quantity of water. And the state government base case, will be spending this money to transport or distribute the "saved" water, or any water for that matter. The revenue from the matches that accrue to the state Government will actually help them to bring in water or distribute water. It does not make economic sense at all, especially that the team management had offered to compensate this 60lakh liters of water, also pay some money to CM's fund and then, the State will also gain economically.

April 13, 2016, 23:16 GMT

Anon

Part2: 5. Cancel the IPL? Well you can do that but you have to look at it in perspective. The quantity of water consumed is so small that if we did cancel this event then how can we justify the water guzzling multiplexes, 5 star hotels, amusement parks. These consume 5 times more (sometimes 10 times more ) than the average per capita consumption of water. Should we shut them all down? 6.That is why I suggested asking the BCCI to get water from outside the state paying a high fee and then using the additional money for drought relief.

April 13, 2016, 23:14 GMT

Anon

Part 1: 1.Total water required for the 19 IPL Matches in Maharashtra is around 70 lakh litres. 2. This is roughly the water consumed by 10 Five star hotels in Mumbai over a week. So we can safely say that saving this will not solve the drought situation in the state. 3.Still, drawing precious water for the IPL grounds when people are struggling to get water to drink is most insensitive. 4.So if you shift IPL matches out of Maharashtra where will you go? Telangana has a severe drought. Karnataka has drought. So you need to move matches out of those states also.

April 13, 2016, 21:20 GMT

S S

The focuz on IPL seems to be a deflection strategy. The real issue is corporate farming of highly water intensive sugar cane. The court could have at least mentioned this as an observation. I am very critical of BCCI otherwise, but this is just victimising them.

April 13, 2016, 21:13 GMT

Garuda

No. Moving IPL out of Maharashtra will not solve the problem. It will only make a big corporate like BCCI to wash its hands off any corporate citizenship responsibility and and not make them contribute towards alleviating the drought situation at all. I would suggest the Govt. or court should set some rules where they shall not use potable water and mandate corporate team owners to contribute x % of gate collections or revenue earned from broadcasting etc.

April 13, 2016, 16:53 GMT

Varshith

Part2/2 I am in full solidarity with the farmers and the affected in Maharashtra, but looked at it from a neutral view point, this looks more like a political game(like the Dharamsala incident in the World cup). One needs to look at the amount of water used for an IPL game(which is going to use non drinkable sewage treated water anyway) to the amount used in say, the sugarcane industry. Bottomline is - Saving the water used to maintain Wankhede stadium's turf will make no difference to the people of Latur, or even of Thane. Nobody in drought-stricken regions will get a single extra drop to drink as a result of IPL games being shifted out of the state.

April 13, 2016, 16:52 GMT

Varshith

Part 1/2 This is more a decision for mass appeasement, rather than one which will bear any actual relief for the farmers. On the contrary, it will make matters worse considering the amount of lost revenue to the state and the number of jobs directly and indirectly affected, from the street hawker to the restaurant, hotels etc. For a more critical analysis, I would recommend people to set aside sentiment for a moment and with a neutral mind-set read the article "Why the Bombay High Court questioning of the IPL's use of water is wrong on several counts" on Scroll.in (One of the few sensible and unbiased articles on this site)

April 13, 2016, 16:02 GMT

SOUMYA PRASANNA

Big Big "No", IPL is a like product, if they want ban then they should ban other industries like liquor,soft drinks...and etc..Match shift/ban is not a solution.

April 13, 2016, 14:16 GMT

raghavendra

No .. If really water is the problem then impose some penalty on the matches that play in Maharashtra. Y to cancel the venues.

April 13, 2016, 14:12 GMT

Praveen Reddy

Not necessarily. But a body like BCCI with so much wealth needs to show some corporate social responsibility. Its not about this incident. But in general Corporates across India need to come up with ways to help citizens in times of drought.

This is a debate not about Cricket but an issue that affects people at large.

April 13, 2016, 13:49 GMT

raviii5197158

No, this would not affect the situation much

April 13, 2016, 13:37 GMT

S

The decision is just an eyewash from the larger issue of drought and farmer distress. Moving the matches isnt a big problem but that wont affect the plight of farmers much. After this decision people will go back to living their lives as usual while farmers will keep suffering.

The agri policy of decades is to blame for the situation and not some IPL matches.

April 13, 2016, 13:36 GMT

yadav.4057168

simply NO...NO.....NO. It would had been better that if the court had asked BCCI to supply water tanks to drought hit area. simply moving IPL is not solution. What about water wastage in Five star hotels in name of swimming pool? Problem is in absence of putting robust system to store water. Certainly court missed the opportunity. This kind of approach adopted by court will not promote the game. Indian govt. and judiciary need to think about long term not short term. problem lies in agriculture policy adopted (Sugarcane, Cotton) and all state machinery searching solution in Sport.

April 13, 2016, 13:19 GMT

S

NO the matches should not have been moved. They should have used recycled water for the ground and pitch. Stopping economic activity is not the answer to drought or to removing poverty. The judge must have made people introspect about water usage. During my visit to Mumbai I have seen how much water is wasted washing cars each morning in flats. The enormous pressure of water in taps there I have not seen here in Karnataka. What about all those mumbaikars and punekars whose families will be deprived of income because of this move by the judges. There is a limit to stupid PILs. Instead of calling for introspection by society the judges have tried to appear as do gooders here. No one will make investments in India if such interventions happen by our judiciary.

April 13, 2016, 13:07 GMT

himanshun

As if IPL was using water that was reserved for the drought hit regions. Pretty sure that the water, which will not be used for these matches, will not be used to fix the drought situation. Someone has to buy that water, and it will not be those farmers or whoever it is. Now, if the Govt is saying that the water which was supposed to be used by IPL will be given to these regions for free or subsidized cost then it's a different story, but I haven't heard that yet. IPL was a low hanging fruit, hated by many sports purists to begin with.

April 13, 2016, 13:04 GMT

Vijay Narayanan Parakimeethal

This should have been taken care before.

April 13, 2016, 12:56 GMT

Sachin

IPL is a celebration of the shortest form of cricket - why should we be imposing limits? After all, the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai is Mumbai Indians's fortress...