PUNE: At least 20 people, suffering from giddiness or dehydration, visited one of the many first-aid centres of the DPU multispeciality hospital inside the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Thursday.
A staff posted at one of the counters in the North Stand confirmed the same to this daily.
“About 20-25 people have come in so far, complaining of dehydration or giddiness,” she told this daily. “We gave them ORS, the non-availability of water was the issue.” After taking all DPU booths into consideration, the woman in charge of that particular counter said upwards of 100 may have sought treatment.
The fiasco started around 11.30 AM on Day One of the second Test between India and New Zealand. Hordes of fans didn’t have access to drinking water and the queues kept growing and growing. Soon enough, several fans started raising slogans. “MCA hume paani do,” they shouted. “MCA hai hai.”
Some of the on-duty cops had to be involved to quell the increasingly loud fans. Ironically, spectators, who were promised free drinking on the public address system before start of play, were made to wait for an hour or so after lunch. “We waited two hours after lunch to get our hands on water that we had paid for,” said one fan, who had come from Pimpri.
“I have come here multiple times before but it has never been this bad. The reason why I keep coming is for the love of the game and I don’t think that will ever change.”
