The National Green Tribunal has sent notices to six cricket stadiums across India, asking them to explain why their operations should not be halted for failing to disclose the source of water used to maintain pitches and outfields. The move follows an earlier NGT direction requiring stadiums to submit details to the Central Ground Water Authority, which is compiling the responses as part of an ongoing compliance review tied to groundwater use and rainwater harvesting.

In its April 16 order, a bench led by NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava, along with expert members A Senthil Vel and Afroz Ahmad, noted that seven stadiums had initially not responded despite repeated directions.

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During the hearing, counsel for the Hyderabad venue sought three weeks to comply, while the remaining six did neither appear nor file replies, prompting the tribunal to issue fresh notices. The stadiums are listed in the order: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Dr DY Patil Stadium, Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, and Barabati Stadium.

National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued notices to six cricket stadiums across the country, including Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, asking them to explain why their activities should not be stopped for failing to disclose the source of water used to maintain the pitch and… pic.twitter.com/3kI1S0HMtI

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The NGT said these venues must explain why “all their activities should not be stopped” due to non-compliance and failure to submit the required information. The tribunal also directed the CGWA to communicate the order to the stadiums, with the next hearing set for July 2.

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The case stems from a plea questioning the use of groundwater or fresh water instead of treated sewage water for cricket ground maintenance, along with the failure to install rainwater harvesting systems for recharge and conservation. Four of the stadiums named in the notice have either hosted or are scheduled to host matches in IPL 2026, adding extra relevance to the tribunal’s latest move.