The IPL match to be played here on Tuesday between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils was plunged into uncertainty, with the Tamil Nadu Public Works Department cancelling the structural soundness certificate issued in 2011 for the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.
In a communication issued to the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association secretary, the department on Monday asked the TNCA to make a fresh application for the certificate.
Contending that the certificate was issued earlier without approved plans of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, the letter, sent by A. Mohan, Superintending Engineer in the Building (Construction and Maintenance) Circle, said: “Now on verification of approved CMDA plans, it is observed that the nomenclature of blocks as in [the] approved plan varies with the nomenclature of blocks for which [the] structural soundness certificate [was] applied [for] by you and issued so far from this Department.”
The fresh application should be made for the blocks with the nomenclature as per the approved CMDA plans, the communication added.
The structural soundness issue has surfaced at a time when the Supreme Court is set to hold a hearing on Tuesday on permission to the organisers to use I, J and K stands in the same match.
Special Correspondent from Sports adds:
Talking to The Hindu , a senior TNCA official said the PWD had withdrawn the certificate based on nomenclature. The TNCA had not even been served a show-cause notice, he said. The issue had “nothing to do with the stadium’s stability.” Seven IPL matches had already been staged in the stadium this season. “There have been absolutely no concerns about the quality or strength of the construction. We have no option but to go to court,” he added.
