The National Green Tribunal has allowed Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur to host three women’s international cricket matches this month, but ordered the venue to deposit Rs 20 lakh for groundwater recharge and make efforts to replace groundwater with sewage treatment plant-treated water for pitch maintenance.
The matches are scheduled for October 16, 18 and 20. The permission modifies an interim direction issued by the tribunal on July 2, which had restrained the stadium from carrying out any further sports activity without the green panel’s permission.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava, with expert member Dr Afroz Ahmad, was hearing the stadium’s application seeking the vacation of the July order. The case relates to the stadium’s failure to provide information on whether groundwater or fresh water was being used to maintain the cricket ground, instead of treated water from a sewage treatment plant.
According to the proceedings cited in the tribunal’s October 6 order, the Central Ground Water Authority’s counsel told the bench that the stadium was mainly using groundwater for maintenance and had not shifted to STP-treated water. The tribunal recorded that 828 kilolitres per day of groundwater was being used to maintain the cricket ground.
The stadium had disclosed that a 150-kilolitre-per-day sewage treatment plant had been installed. However, the tribunal said the management had not disclosed how much treated water the plant generated or how much of that water was being used for maintaining the grounds. It also noted that the stadium had failed to file a response despite repeated opportunities, leading to the interim restriction in July.
The NGT said groundwater was precious and had to be rationally used for necessary purposes. It directed the stadium to make all possible efforts to use STP-treated water instead of groundwater for maintaining the cricket ground and submit a report on the matter before the next hearing.
As a condition for allowing the matches, the tribunal directed the stadium to deposit Rs 20 lakh with the Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board. The board has been asked to prepare a scheme for recharging groundwater in the area using the deposited money and submit it to the tribunal before the next hearing on December 9.
The order places the stadium’s match schedule alongside a compliance requirement involving water accounting, treatment capacity and groundwater recharge. The venue’s next report to the tribunal will determine whether it has taken steps to reduce its dependence on groundwater for maintaining the playing surface.
