Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: Orissa Cricket Association (OCA) and the twin-city commissionerate police Tuesday decided to ban the entry of bottles and water pouches inside Barabati Stadium.
The decision was taken in view of the disgraceful behavior of spectators at the stadium after India’s six-wicket defeat to South Africa in a T20 international match in October. A meeting on the matter held at the commissionerate police headquarters here and attended by OCA secretary Ashirbad Behera, Police Commissioner Dr Rajendra Prasad Sharma and Cuttack DCP Sanjeev Arora resulted in the decision and some other decisions aimed at preventing nuisance by spectators.
“In the meeting, it was decided that henceforth no spectator will be allowed to enter the stadium with bottles and water pouches. The OCA officials have decided to supply purified water through every tap installed in the stadium. RO water purifiers will be installed in the stadium,” Sharma told the media. “The height of the nets of gallery No. 2 and 4 will also be increased so that no spectator is able to throw bottles on the ground. The galleries will now be numbered, and the spectators will have the gallery number on their tickets. CCTV cameras will also be installed near every gallery. As of now, CCTV cameras are installed only near the outer and inner entry points. The CCTVs will help police keep a vigil on
miscreants,” he added.
Behera asserted all the work for improvement of the stadium’s infrastructure discussed with police at the meeting would be completed within two months.
The issue led Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to exclude the stadium from the list of newly declared Test venues. A BCCI team had visited the stadium and issued a green signal for conducting test matches. But six new venues announced at BCCI’s annual general
meeting (AGM) excluded the Stadium.
