'What an embarrassment': Stadium hosting Ind vs Aus match has no electricity, bill not paid since 2009

Digital Desk: India and Australia will play their fourth Twenty20 international match today at Raipur's Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium. However, there is no electricity in some areas of the stadium with only hours to go before the important match. The reason is an unpaid electricity payment from 2009.

The stadium's electricity connection was interrupted five years ago because of an overdue bill of Rs 3.16 crore. At the request of the Chhattisgarh State Cricket Association, a temporary connection was set up, however, it is limited to the boxes and spectator gallery. It would be necessary to use a generator to power the floodlights during today's match.

The Secretary Cricket Association has asked to expand the capacity of the stadium's temporary connection, according to Raipur Rural Circle In-Charge Ashok Khandelwal.

The temporary connection's current capacity is 200 KV. The application has been granted although work on upgrading it to 1,000 KV has not yet begun.

When half-marathon participants discovered that the stadium did not have an electricity supply in 2018, there was an uproar. Then it was revealed that the electrical bill, which had increased to Rs 3.16 crore, had not been paid since 2009.

Following construction, the Public Works Department (PWD) assumed responsibility for the stadium's maintenance, with the Sports Department covering any outstanding costs. The unpaid power bill has become the subject of accusations between the two departments.

Although PWD and the Sports Department received multiple notifications from the electrical supplier to pay up, no payment has been made as of yet.

Since the 2018 power outage, three international cricket matches have taken place in the venue.

The stadium is currently managed by the Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh (CSCS), and they stated that there is no payment that they owe to the electricity department.

"We can't comment on the previous dues of the department that the stadium was under before CSCS came in. That connection where dues maybe there was in the name of the relevant government department," stated Jubin Shah, President-CSCS.