IPL 9: Here's How Cricket Stadiums Across The World Conserve Water & What Drought-Hit Maharashtra Can Learn From Them!

Amid rising water crisis in the drought-hit state of Maharashtra, the Bombay High Court has decided to not stop the Indian Premier League opener at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday. Out of the 10 venues that are hosting IPL matches, three are in Maharashtra - Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, Pune's MCA Stadium and Nagpur's VCA Stadium.

AFP

To those Maharashtra venues who are hosting the IPL games, here is some food for thought.

The grounds have to be watered regularly regardless of whether a match is being played or not. Thus the question of water wastage due to IPL matches is pretty redundant.

So the question arises, is there anyway water can be conserved while cricket grounds are able to maintain standards? Well, if one takes a look at top venues outside India, the answer is yes.

PTI

The main grounds such as Lord's, MCG and Centurion, all use sprinklers to distribute water evenly. This ensures that no excess water is wasted and the pitch along with the square gets adequate moisture. Not just that, these stadiums have taken concerned measures to help save water in the stadium and surrounding areas.

The Rippleffect system at Lord's Cricket Ground

AFP

Post 2006, the Marylebourne Cricket Club, the owners of the Lord's Cricket Ground have made conscious efforts to reduce water consumption to half. In order to sustain that level of water consumption, the MCC turned to the Rippleffect arrangement in 2014.

The Rippleffect system helped MCC to closely monitor water consumption techniques to identify how and where further conservations can be made. The MCC then installed sub-meters to monitor water use in individual buildings that helped to develop ideas for additional reductions. MCC has also ensured that toilets and urinals have been fitted with water reduction controls, such as low-volume cisterns and flush sensors.

Melbourne Cricket Ground's underground water planting facility

One of the biggest cricketing attractions in the southern hemisphere Melbourne Cricket Ground has a unique way to conserve water, through an underground water planting facility to provide adequate water to the MCG and also manage water sewage in all the surrounding areas.

However, in India, we still mainly use the manual system of distributing water from a pipe. As a result, more often than not, more water is used than required. So maybe a change can help conserve the amount used.

AP

Will Indian organisers take a leaf out of the books of foreign grounds? How much it will help in drought-affected areas remains to be seen, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.