This unique situation arose as the stadium's power supply was disconnected five years ago.
The Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium in Raipur is set to host the fourth T20I between India and Australia on Friday. However, due to unpaid electric bills amounting to INR 3.16 crore since 2009, the venue will rely on generators to power the floodlights.
This unique situation arose as the stadium's power supply was disconnected five years ago. Consequently, the floodlights will be exclusively powered by generators. In an attempt to address this issue, the Chhattisgarh State Cricket Association requested a temporary connection. Unfortunately, this connection only provides power to the spectators' gallery and the boxes.
The report states that Ashok Khandelwal, the in-charge of Raipur Rural Circle, has requested an increase in the power of the temporary connection from 200 KV to 1000 KV. This is to ensure that the floodlights can function throughout the contest. The application for this request has been approved, but the work is yet to commence. This is concerning as there are only a few hours left before the match begins.
The Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium, which is India's 50th international venue, was inaugurated in 2008. Over the years, it has hosted several matches for Team India as well as some Indian Premier League (IPL) contests.
Initially, the maintenance of the venue was supposed to be handled by the Public Works Department (PWD), with the Sports Department responsible for the expenditures. However, a dispute has arisen between these two departments regarding an unpaid bill.
Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh media coordinator Tarunesh Singh Parihar said:
"As far as the stadium lights are concerned, I don't know how much bill is outstanding but a temporary connection has been taken in the name of CSCS."
The venue has received multiple warnings from the electricity department regarding unpaid bills, yet no effort has been made to settle the outstanding amount thus far.
It is important to highlight that Raipur was not the original choice to host the contest. Initially, the fourth T20I was designated for the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium in Nagpur.
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