Floodlight Malfunction During Cuttack ODI: Odisha Deputy CM Indirectly Blames OCA

Bhubaneswar: Asserting that the energy department had no fault for the floodlight malfunction during the India-England ODI at Cuttack’s Barabati Stadium, Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo indirectly blamed the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) for the disruption.

Speaking about the incident, Singh Deo told reporters that the floodlight was connected to a generator and it was not functioning with regular power supply. Had there been any disruption in power supply, the entre stadium would have plunged into darkness, he said.

Ruling the involvement the energy department, Singh Deo said the floodlights at Barabati Stadium have been powered by the stadium’s own generator sets.

Stating that power supply for the floodlight got snapped as the generator had burnt down, the Deputy CM said the generator belonged to the OCA. The play was disrupted because of this malfunction and the energy department had no fault in the whole incident, he added.

It may be noted that the state government has already sought an explanation from secretary of OCA Sanjay Behera for the floodlight malfunction, which led to the suspension of the ODI for nearly 30 minutes on Sunday.

The OCA has been directed to submit a detailed explanation for the cause of the disruption and identify the persons/ agencies, who were responsible for such lapses. It has also been asked to outline the measures taken to prevent similar incidents in the future. “The findings must be submitted within 10 days upon receipt of this letter,” the Sport & Youth Services Department said.

Amid all the excitement of hosting an ODI after 6 years, the usually lengthy pause due to floodlight failure in the second innings of the game after India went off to a fiery start came as an embarrassment for the government in Odisha.

Explaining the cause of the fiasco, the OCA secretary earlier told the media that each floodlight tower had two generators attached. “During the match, one of the generators for the affected floodlight tower malfunctioned. When we attempted to switch to the second generator, we found that a vehicle used for transporting players was parked between the tower and the generator. We had to contact the driver and ask him to move the vehicle before the power supply could be restored,” he added.