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 it to deposit Rs 20 lakh for groundwater recharge and make efforts to replace groundwater with sewage treatment plant-treated water for maintaining the playing surface.
A bench comprising NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member Dr Afroz Ahmad permitted the matches scheduled for October 16, 18 and 20 while hearing the stadium’s plea against an interim order that had restricted it from conducting further sporting activity without the tribunal’s permission.
The tribunal’s July 2 order followed the stadium’s failure to provide a response on whether groundwater or fresh water was being used to maintain the cricket ground instead of treated water from a sewage treatment plant. The proceedings are part of a wider matter involving six cricket stadiums across India that were issued notices in April over the disclosure of water sources used for maintaining pitches and grounds.
According to the NGT order, the Central Ground Water Authority’s counsel told the tribunal that the Raipur stadium was mainly using groundwater 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 sewage treatment plant with a capacity of 150 kilolitres per day had been installed. However, the tribunal noted that the management had not stated how much treated water the plant generated or how much of that water was being used at the stadium.
“Groundwater is precious and is required to be rationally utilised for the necessary purposes,” the tribunal said, adding that the stadium was required to attempt a shift from groundwater to STP-treated water for maintaining the cricket ground. It also noted that the stadium had failed to file a response despite repeated opportunities, leading to the July interim order.
The permission to host the matches is conditional on the deposit of Rs 20 lakh with the Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board. The board has been directed to prepare a groundwater-recharge scheme for the area using the deposited amount and submit it to the tribunal before the next hearing.
The order also requires the stadium to make all possible efforts to use STP-treated water instead of groundwater for maintaining the ground. The stadium must submit a report on compliance before the next date of hearing, scheduled for December 9.
The case places the water requirements of large sporting venues within the same regulatory framework as other groundwater users. It also leaves the stadium’s future compliance tied to two measurable issues: the quantity of treated water generated by its plant and the extent to which that water replaces groundwater in ground maintenance.
