Coming down heavily on the state government for its apathy over solving water problems in Maharashtra, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed that all IPL matches scheduled after April 30 be shifted out of the state in view of the drought-like situation in the state.
The court has given the BCCI and organisers of IPL matches 18 days time to look for new venues and make logistical arrangements. The decision means 13 matches of the IPL will not be played in the state.
Though the division bench of Justice V.M. Kanade and Justice M.S. Karnik agreed with one of the respondents’ opinion that shifting IPL outside Maharashtra was not the solution to the problem, considering the current scenario it was required to be shifted.
The BCCI assured the court that it would contribute '5 crore to the CM’s Relief Fund and also provide the amount of water (over 60 lakh litres) to the drought-affected villages.
Affected states
Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, Odisha, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra, UP, Uttarakhand, MP, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala have reported lower levels of water in reservoirs
Doing well
Only two states, Andhra Pradesh and Tripura, have reported better storage vis-a-vis last year for the same span
