The Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Nava Raipur hosted the fourth T20 match between India and Australia on Friday evening on generators and power backups because the state government authorities have not paid the power bills for the last 5 years.
The unpaid dues now stand at ₹3.16 crore. It does not affect the matches held there, however, as the Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh (CSCS) obtains a temporary connection from the Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited (CSPDCL) whenever necessary or the matches are organised with the temporary generators. But it costs a bomb to the authorities.
“Power connection was provided to the stadium in 2010 on the application of the stadium construction committee. By 2018, outstanding bills had reached ₹3.16 crore, following which the supply was disconnected,” said Ashok Khandelwal, superintending engineer (Raipur circle), CSPDCL.
“Later, the stadium authority applied for a temporary connection of 200 kVA which was provided keeping in view security concerns as people visit it to watch matches,” he said.
For Friday’s match the Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh obtained a temporary connection and deposited ₹10 lakh with the company, the official added. “We have served notices to the state Sports and Youth Welfare Department for the recovery of dues. The department had earlier cited a lack of budgetary provision. Recently it has assured that all the pending bills will be paid,” said Khandelwal.
The stadium is not owned by the Cricket Association, according to CSCS President Jubin Shah.
He said, “ The Public Works and Sports and Youth Welfare Departments oversee it, and the State Government owns it.” According to him, the association has no unpaid electricity bills that need to be paid for the stadium.
“We have our external power sources in addition to the temporary power connection. The same method was used for previous matches there, too,” Shah continued. The stadium’s floodlights are run by generators since, according to him, it takes 30 minutes to restart the lights in the event of a power outage.