Arun Jaitley Stadium among 20 grounds extracting groundwater without NOC

An inspection of 26 stadiums across the country found 24 had borewells or tubewells installed, but only four such stadiums had a valid NOC

Updated on: Aug 7, 2023, 24:00:16 IST

By Jasjeev Gandhiok

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The ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS) has informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that it has served show cause notices to 20 stadiums across the country, including the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, for using borewells or tubewells for ground maintenance, without having a valid no-objection certificate (NOC) for it.

DDCA, which owns and operates the Arun Jaitley Stadium, said that has begun the process of compliance with the norms. (ANI)

An inspection of 26 stadiums across the country found 24 had borewells or tubewells installed, but only four such stadiums had a valid NOC. The remaining have been served notices and given three-months’ time to submit an action taken report, the ministry told NGT through a report.

“It was found that 24 out of the 26 stadiums inspected have borewells/tubewells for extraction of groundwater, out of which only four stadiums had groundwater NOC. Subsequently, show cause notices have been sent to the 20 stadiums on June 27, 2023, directing them to explain them the reason as to why NOC was not sought from the concerned department...,” said the report, dated August 4.

As per the report, the four stadiums that were found compliant with the norms included the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, the VCA stadium in Nagpur, the JSCA International stadium in Ranchi and the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Meanwhile, the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), which owns and operates the Arun Jaitley Stadium, said that the association has begun the process of compliance with the norms.

“We were served the notice a month ago. The process of compliance with the norms started 20-25 days ago. We will have everything in place before the ODI World Cup starts in October,” DDCA joint secretary Rajan Manchanda said.

(With inputs from Vivek Krishnan)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jasjeev Gandhiok
Jasjeev Gandhiok is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times, where he covers environment, climate change, the clean energy transition and wildlife at the National Bureau. Gandhiok has over a decade of experience in journalism and is based in Delhi. He has reported extensively on Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). This includes the region's air pollution woes, a polluted Yamuna and on urban wildlife still thriving in the region. He joined HT in October 2021. Prior to that, he had five-year stint at The Times of India in Delhi, where he also covered Delhi, with a focus on environment and wildlife. Gandhiok has covered some recent events around the Capital too, ranging from the farmers' protests, the northeast Delhi riots and the CAA-NRC protests, reporting from the ground on all of these. He also travels across the country to report on how environment and climate change impact everyday life, while also writing on endangered species. His reports in 2019 on toxic leachate from Delhi's landfills led to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) taking suo motu cognisance and ultimately asking the state government to start bio-mining to flatten and remove all three landfills in the capital. He also closely tracks the implementation of government policies on climate, renewable energy and environmental protection. His focus remains on impactful, public-interest journalism which explains how environmental decisions affect people's everyday lives.Read More