'What an embarrassment': No electricity at Raipur stadium for IND vs AUS, ₹3.16 crore bill due

An unpaid electricity bill is a shadow over Raipur Cricket Stadium. There is an unanticipated problem that is tarnishing the excitement for the fourth Twenty20 International match between Australia and India at Raipur's Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh stadium as there is no electricity in some areas of the stadium. The underlying cause of this problem is an enormous ₹3.16 crore unpaid electricity bill that has been there since 2009.

3 things you need to know 

• India vs Australia 4th T20I will be played today 
• India leads the series by 2-1 but lost the last match 
• Shreyas Iyer returns to the Indian Cricket team squad 

Chronic Unpaid Bills and Temporary Solutions

The stadium lost its power link five years ago because a bill wasn't paid. At the request of the Chhattisgarh State Cricket Association, a temporary link was set up to get around the problem. But this temporary fix only lights up the boxes and the gallery for spectators. It doesn't illuminate other important places. Because of this, a generator will have to power the floodlights needed for today's game.

Ashok Khandelwal, who is in charge of the Raipur Rural Circle, said that the Secretary of the Cricket Association has asked for the temporary connection's power to be raised from 200 KV to 1,000 KV. Even though the application was approved, work on the change has not yet begun.

History of Unpaid Bills and Blame Games

This is not the first time that the stadium has had trouble with power. In 2018, athletes at a half-marathon were shocked to find that there was no power. After that, it was revealed that the bill had been building up since 2009 and had reached 3.16 crore. 

After the stadium was built, the Public Works Department (PWD) was given the job of maintaining it. The Sports Department was given the rest of the costs. The unresolved power bill is partly due to the ongoing blame game between these two offices.

Even though the electricity company has sent many letters asking PWD and the Sports Department to pay, they have not been paid yet. The stadium has been the site of three international cricket matches since the power went out in 2018. There are growing worries about whether it will be possible to host more international events in the future. 

Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh's media coordinator, Tarunesh Singh Parihar, said that the group wasn't sure if they should host big matches because of the problems that might come up. Generators are being thought of as an alternative for important games, which shows how unstable the stadium's power system is.

Netizens are slamming the BCCI and the state association for the mismanagement in Chhattisgarh cricket. Here are some reactions from social media users.