Water has to flow for the game to begin. It is the lifeline for sports arenas, be it golf courses or cricket stadiums. Without water, the green would turn an ugly brown, and shower heads and toilets would run dry.
But with Indian Premier League (IPL) matches being shifted out of stadiums in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra, which is under the grip of a severe drought, sporting venues in Bengaluru too have come under the scanner over their water conservation efforts.
Chinnaswamy Stadium guzzles approximately 70,000 litres of water every day. Despite having four borewells and a sewage treatment plant (STP), it is still dependent on the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) for a daily supply of 50,000-55,000 litres. This is used for residential and drinking water purposes.
“BWSSB has instructed us to cut down the water usage by 10 per cent, and we are doing that,” said Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) spokesman Vinay Mruthyunjaya. That said, the stadium has been using its STP, which became fully functional in the first week of May, to take care of the cricket ground (see box).
“The water we supply to Chinnaswamy Stadium is reasonable. If there is any shortage in other areas, we may reduce the water given to the stadium,” said C. Kemparamaiah, chief engineer (maintenance), BWSSB.
Once IPL wraps up, the stadium will be installing the much-touted SubAir system imported from the United States at a cost of about Rs. 4 crore. The aeration and vacuum-powered drainage system imported from the States prevents waterlogging on the field after a heavy rain. It also gathers rainwater for later use. “In case of a good rainfall, we can save up to 60 lakh litres of water (monthly). We can route back this water to the BWSSB, and talks are under way on this matter,” said Mr. Mruthyunjaya.
The Chinnaswamy way* Daily requirement: 68,000 to 73,000 litres
* From BWSSB: 50,000-55,000 litres; used for residential, drinking water purposes
* From sewage treatment plant: 18,000 litres; used to water the grounds
How the STP works* Treats sewage water sourced from Cubbon Road.
* Work on STP started in 2015; it became functional in May 2016
* It cost the Karnataka State Cricket Association Rs. 85 lakh
* It has the capacity of producing of 2.10 lakh litres of treated water a dayEOM
Other city stadiums have a long way to goKanteerava Indoor StadiumKanteerava has four borewells to meet its daily water requirement of 20,000 litres. This includes the requirement for the youth hostel. But the stadium does not have any other means of water conservation. “We are planning to install rainwater harvesting systems in the stadium in the coming months,” said Ramesh M. S., joint director, Sports and Youth Services Department.
In this year’s budget, the State government had allotted Rs. 3 crore for the maintenance of the stadium, including the drainage system which has not been upgraded since 1997, when the stadium was built.
KSHA StadiumThe Karnataka State Hockey Association (KSHA) Stadium on Langford Road is facing shortage of water, and the authorities there plan to dig a deeper borewell. The new hockey turf to be laid would require water as well. “Of course we will implement water conservation systems in the hockey stadium as well,” said Ramesh M.S. when questioned about saving water
Bangalore Football StadiumThe Bangalore Football Stadium says it requires minimal maintenance for its ground. “We have AstroTurf grass that doesn’t need as much maintenance as natural grass,” said Krishana Narayana, secretary, Karnataka State Football Association (KSFA).
The authorities said they cannott disclose their daily water requirement. “We don’t know how much water is being used because there is no meter. We store the water in the sump and pump it as and when required,” said A. D. Nagendra, hon. treasurer, KSCA.
The water requirement is met using two borewells. There is no water conservation system in place, and the artificial turf is watered once a day
Golf courses show the wayApart from the cricket grounds, it is the golf courses that require huge amounts of water for maintenance. However, the golf courses in the city have managed to meet their requirement through recycled and treated water, without being heavily dependent on the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) or borewells.
The Karnataka Golf Association (KGA), one of the top golf courses in the country, uses Bermuda grass that can withstand high temperatures but at the same time requires a lot of water. “The golf course requires daily watering and our sprinklers go on and off every two hours,” said Sandeep Madhavan, honorary secretary, KGA.
The club, however, has a tertiary treatment plant with a capacity of 1.25 million litres a day. It also depends on 14 tanks and ponds on the course. “Prior to 2005, we were dependent on borewell water for the golf course, but we realised that in future this was not going to be enough. So we decided to set up the tertiary treatment plant,” said V. Venkat Subramaniam, president, KGA.
Potable water supply from BWSSB is used only for the club house and the kitchen. “We are the only club in the country which is self-sufficient because of our tertiary treatment plant,” Mr. Madhavan said.
The Bangalore Golf Club (BGC), which is the oldest golf club in the city, installed a sewage treatment plant in 2001. Water for this plant is received from the sewage beside Mantri Mall. This water is transported over a pipeline which is two km long. The STP has a capacity of seven million litres a day. However, the 60-acre golf course requires only about two million litres of water a day.
“We restrict our daily water requirement to the maximum of 2 MLD by watering only the greens and tee box during summer,” said S. K Raghunandan, hon. treasurer, BGC. He added that the STP was sufficient for the course. However, they do use BWSSB supply for the club house.
