The fourth T20 international between India and Australia will be played at Raipur’s Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium on Friday (December 1). However, with only hours till the vital match, there is no electricity in some sections of the stadium since an electricity bill has not been paid since 2009.
According to an NDTV report, the stadium has an overdue bill of Rs 3.16 crore, for which the stadium’s electricity connection had been cut five years ago. At the request of the Chhattisgarh State Cricket Association, a temporary connection was set up, however, it only covers the spectators’ gallery and boxes. In an embarrassing turn of events, the floodlights would have to be powered by a generator during tonight’s match.
Ashok Khandelwal, Raipur Rural Circle in-charge, stated that the Cricket Association Secretary requested an increase in the temporary connection capacity. Although the upgrade to 1,000 KV has been approved, implementation is still pending.
The stadium’s electricity issue is not new. A lack of electricity supply took half-marathon participants off guard in 2018. Reports suggest that stadium’s electricity bills have been piling up since 2009.
The stadium’s maintenance was initially delegated to the Public Works Department (PWD), with the Sports Department liable for all additional expenses. However, it has been reported that both the authorities have been shifting the blame on each other concerning the overdue electricity bill.
Regardless of several notices from the electricity company to the two departments—PWD and the Sports Department, the debt remains unpaid. This financial impasse has lasted despite the stadium hosting three international cricket matches since the power outage in 2018.
Meanwhile, Tarunesh Singh Parihar, media coordinator for the Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh (CSCS), expressed reservations about holding international matches under these circumstances. According to him, the stadium uses generators as a workaround for important events, as reported by NDTV. He went on to say that a temporary connection had been established in the name of CSCS.
In tonight’s final T20 match between India and Australia at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Team India, led by captain Suryakumar Yadav, aims to seal a series win after falling short in Guwahati.