Hours before the 4th T20I series between India and Australia at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium at Raipur, the stadium faces an electricity crisis owing to an enormous unpaid bill which is worth ₹3.16 crores. This unpaid bill has been existing for the stadium authorities since 2009 and has not been compensated since. Substantial parts of the stadium is without electricity, the only place where it is available is the spectators gallery and boxes.
Who should be held responsible?
It seems that a number of factors for this mismanagement should be held responsible owing to constant change in ownerships, with multiple authorities blaming each other. Ashok Khandelwal, Raipur Rural Circle in-charge, mentioned that the Cricket Association Secretary applied for an increase in the capacity of the temporary connection. Although approval for upgrading to 1,000 KV has been given, implementation remains pending.
Initially, the maintenance was handed over to the Public Works Department along with the Sports Department responsible for other types of expenses. But since this issue emerged, the two authorities have been blaming each other for the unpaid electricity bill.
Dates back to 2018
To be noted, this mismanagement dates back to 2018, five years ago when after multiple notices by the electricity company, the dues remained unsettled. In 2018 only, participants of the half marathon were caught off guard due to the lack of availability of electricity. Well, in today’s match, the floodlights are to be powered by generators, reports revealed. A temporary connection is to be put in place in order to supply power at the stadium ahead of a big match.
On another note, the Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh which currently manages, stated that there is no bill they owe to the company. The President of the Sangh remarked “We can’t comment on the previous dues of the department that the stadium was under prior to CSCS coming in. That connection where dues maybe there was in the name of the relevant government department.”
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