Because the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has not complied with fire safety rules, the Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) has stopped providing electricity to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Due to unresolved safety concerns, the Director General of the Department of Fire and Emergency Services directed BESCOM to turn off the electricity. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the current Indian Premier League (IPL) winners, play their home games at the renowned stadium, which is currently dependent on backup generators.
The Times of India cited an official as saying, “We served notice on KSCA in the second week of June and disconnected power for three days based on the DG’s recommendation.”
BESCOM was previously chastised by the Karnataka High Court for continuing to provide electricity to the stadium despite knowing that it had violated fire safety regulations.
The issue came up during a hearing on a petition that KSCA had filed against BESCOM’s June 12 notification to cut off power.
Power was temporarily restored on June 17 following a court filing, according to KSCA’s attorney. But BESCOM’s attorney said that the link would be cut off once more until the government approved it.
Justice S Sunil Dutt Yadav, who presided over the case, expressed his extreme disapproval of the mistakes by saying, “The stadium should remain in darkness if fire safety regulations are not followed.” We can’t take the chance of another catastrophe.”
The bench warned of severe consequences if safety procedures were ignored and emphasised that BESCOM should not restore power without government clearance. The court stated that “zero tolerance” would be applied to fire safety violations, therefore KSCA’s plea request for clemency was met with a harsh reaction.
The hearing has been postponed until July 15 after the court sent notices to the Director General of Fire and Emergency Services, the Managing Director of BESCOM, and the Assistant Executive Engineer.
It’s crucial to remember that the conflict started with a fire safety recommendation in May 2023 that the Fire Department reportedly was unable to implement. The disconnection order was first implemented by BESCOM on June 10; however, the settlement process has been prolonged by legal challenges.
“On June 20, we (Bescom) asked KSCA to adhere to safety procedures within seven days, failing which the power supply will be cut off. We refused to give them fifteen days’ warning. The English daily quoted a Bescom engineer as saying, “We disconnected supply to the stadium Monday morning because the seven-day deadline was coming to an end and KSCA had not yet returned.”
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