The Green Goblin

It’s very nice that the IPL wants to save the environment. Now, if only Lalit Modi would stop coming to venues in helicopters.

The Indian Premier League made an announcement on the first day of the tournament. It was going green.

We thought there would now be stalls selling methi and palak at IPL venues. Haggling housewives would join the crazy IPL mix of big sixes, screaming fans and gyrating cheerleaders. Bill Lawry would say, “It is all happening here” and this time, mean it.

A second reading made us realise that the green in question concerned the environment. The IPL too had joined the mission to save the earth. Polluters, beware. Add Lalit Modi to the list of powerful people you are up against.

Except that as of now, Modi himself is contributing generously to carbon emissions. He is thus, hero and anti-hero in the garish, action-packed comic book called the IPL. On opening day, Modi and former cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah flew to the Dr DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai in a helicopter. The fifteen-minute ride from Mumbai to its outskirts burnt fuel as well as money. It is estimated to have cost between Rs 85,000 and Rs 100,000.

Modi and Shah then got into a big black BMW to travel the short distance to the main stadium. Had they been committed to the planet, Modi and Shah would have cycled those few yards. And if their zeal matched that of Greenpeace activists, they would have ridden on the same bike, with Shah sitting on the horizontal connecting the handle to the seat.

At least, the IPL guys should have embraced the ‘cause’ on another day, when their flouting of environmental decorum was not so brazen. Modi and Shah were not the only ones to descend noisily on Navi Mumbai. That day, helicopters made 29 sorties from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai, carrying important people, most of them in suits, none of them green.

It’s not just the IPL opening ceremony that is extravagant. Fireworks blast off like rockets at the end of every game. With most matches in the evening, the floodlights place a huge burden on electricity. Typically a stadium has around 400 light bulbs of 200 watts each.

For life to have colour, some collateral damage is inevitable. One understands that. But it is also true that some of the aspects of the IPL are wasteful. That will have to change if it is serious about conserving resources.

As usual, hope and credibility comes from Sachin Tendulkar’s involvement. He has been named the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Goodwill Ambassador. Once Tendulkar signs up for something, he takes it seriously. He is not in it only for business. Which can’t be said about others in the IPL.

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arindam