There was chaos at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Thursday as several spectators raised slogans against the local cricket body over the unavailability of drinking water at the venue.
Shortly after the lunch session during the second Test between India and New Zealand, several fans queued outside the stands and got into a confrontation with the police. “There has been no drinking water at the ground for nearly two hours and despite repeatedly asking the volunteers, nothing was done,” one of the agitating spectators told the cops.
Since last year’s ODI World Cup, it has become a norm for all the state associations to provide the fans with free drinking water, even though there has been no official announcement about it. However, with the temperature soaring and a large part of the stands without shade, it was a challenge for the 10,000-plus spectators.
“Since the stadium protocols do not allow the spectators to carry water bottles, we expected the association or the BCCI to make arrangements, but there was absolutely nothing,” Ajay, a college student from Kothrud, who joined the protests, said.
Volunteers and the security personnel rushed to the scene with crates of packaged drinking water to bring things under control. | Photo Credit: Shayan Acharya/ Sportstar
“With such hot and humid weather, it was impossible to watch a match since there was no sunroof in most parts of the ground. Even the washrooms ran out of water after a while,” claimed another spectator.
As things got ugly with the protesters raising slogans against the MCA, the volunteers and the security personnel rushed to the scene with crates of packaged drinking water to bring things under control. Even the police personnel on duty had to step in to disperse the crowd and ensure that there was no untoward incident.
When contacted, the BCCI officials told this publication that it’s the responsibility of the respective state association to arrange the basic facilities. However, neither MCA secretary Kamlesh Pisal nor CEO Ajinkya Joshi were available for a comment on the issue.
The MCA secretary Kamlesh Pisal assured that going forward, the association will set up more stalls to provide the spectators with free drinking water. “Our sincere apologies to all the fans for the inconvenience caused. We will ensure things will be alright going forward. We have already addressed the water issue…,” Pisal said.
“This time, we decided to provide the spectators with chilled drinking water and there were some sort of logistical issues as some of the stalls in the north stand ran out of water during the lunch break due to heavy rush. It took us 15 to 20 minutes to refill the water containers and since it was delayed, we decided to offer them free bottled water,” the secretary claimed.
As a back-up plan, the MCA has decided to use larger 20-litre containers and refill them at frequent intervals. “We will also keep a back-up plan ready, so that there aren’t any logistical issues,” he said.
Some of the fans claimed on social media that they had to buy packaged water from stands for Rs 80-100. However, the MCA secretary said that they would look into the matter. “We haven’t given anyone permission to sell water at the stands. We will look into the matter and ensure such things don’t happen in the future,” Pisal said
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