Calcutta, April 21: The knives are out after the Eden fiasco and a three-member government committee will carry out a probe.

But an investigation by The Telegraph has revealed that the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) did not go through even the basic ground drill before throwing open Eden Gardens for the biggest spectacle Calcutta has hosted in recent times.

Checklist

A checklist has been followed for every match at the Eden since 1978. It contains nearly 700 items. Before every match, a random check is carried out to ensure that all the items are in place.

Former president B.N. Dutt introduced this practice, which was given the go-by when the current regime took over. No dry run was conducted this time. Neither was any contingency plan in place.

Lights

The Kolkata Knight Riders practised under floodlights for a couple of days. The lights were also tested for at least a week before Sunday’s match.

But not for one day were the lights in the entire stadium — the Club House, galleries and media boxes — tested. Neither were the several air-conditioners that were in operation yesterday switched on earlier. The power for the sound system was also not taken into account.

Officials dealing with electricity said that when all outlets were switched on simultaneously, there was too much load and some cables could have tripped.

Such was the eagerness to blame one another that the exact cause of the partial failure of the floodlights — which stopped play for 31 minutes last night — could not be pinpointed till Monday night.

A PWD report — which said today the department had no role in it though minister Kshiti Goswami had yesterday “apologised”— suggested a feeder (cable) tripped and the CESC recommissioned it it.

But the power supply company challenged the version. “This is totally wrong. There are two high-tension feeders that supply electricity from the CESC network to the lighting towers. While one is functional, the other is kept as stand-by. Last evening, neither of the feeders showed any abnormality during the period and we supplied power in an uninterrupted manner to Eden Gardens during the entire playing period,” said Dilip Sen, the CESC executive director (commercial and main).

The PWD report, submitted by superintending engineer Subhasis Biswas, said the floodlight work at the Eden had been executed by the CAB at its own expense in 1993 and that the organisation had been carrying out the maintenance work since then. “It will be wrong to hold the PWD responsible as the CAB has been maintaining the tower lights for the past 15 years. We had no role in yesterday’s incident,” said Goswami.

Scoreboard

The dry run used to begin at least 15 days in advance. Engineers from a firm in Chennai would visit the city to ensure its smooth operation. This time, the company was not asked to send the engineers.

CAB president Prasun Mukherjee has said he was told only on the eve of the match that the scoreboard would not function on Sunday.

But an official said: “The CAB wasn’t clear about its role. It was agreed that the CAB would provide the ground and stadium for the match. That means maintenance of the scoreboard falls under the CAB’s purview.”

Water

Every tap at the Eden used to be kept open for 12 hours before a match to test the flow. “It is a waste but what to do? The exercise ensures that we are ready to meet the requirements of a packed stadium,” an official said.

The unusual test run was made mandatory after the 1996 World Cup semi-final when there was a shortage of drinking water. But the test was not carried out this time.

PWD minister Goswami offered an explanation for the water shortage during the match. “A group of teenagers couldn’t bear the heat and wanted to have a bath. So, they yanked off the plastic pipes and sprayed water on themselves to get some respite. That led to wastage of water in some places, eventually causing water shortage in wash basins,” Goswami said.

Settling scores

State sports minister Subhas Chakraborty has put the entire blame on the CAB, saying an inquiry committee would be formed tomorrow to find out the cause of the floodlight fiasco.

The committee, which will have representatives from police, the PWD and the sports department, has been told to submit its report on April 29 — the day of the next IPL match at the Eden.

Chakraborty, who had once threatened to contest against current CAB president and former police commissioner Prasun Mukherjee but could not because of CPM intervention, twisted the knife with glee.

“It is a shame on the CAB and people at the helm of its affairs that such an incident occurred at the Eden Gardens.

“Yesterday’s power failure and the water problem have exposed the inexperience of those who are running the affairs in CAB. Calcutta hasn’t seen what happened yesterday in the past 50 years,” the sports minister said at Writers’.

“Four times, our government had sought details on the water supply condition and the lighting system. That should be at least 20 days ago. But CAB authorities did not contact us,” Chakraborty added.

Contacted by The Telegraph tonight, Prasun Mukherjee said: “Power supply and maintenance of cables are not the responsibility of the CAB. If the minister means maintenance of the four floodlit towers, I should say that we do that responsibly round the year — applying a fresh coat of paint, changing bulbs, etc.

“Why should I resign? We’ve conducted a very good match. A full house witnessed it…. Just because there was no power for only 20-odd minutes doesn’t mean it was poorly conducted. Some are only looking at the negatives.”

Moving with unusual alacrity, Calcutta police also wrote to its former boss, Mukherjee, seeking an explanation from the CAB on what steps were being taken in the future.

“The concern is of security and such an incident in the future could pose law and order problems. So we would like to know why there was such a debacle. We can offer help, but our area of intervention should be specified,” said Vineet Goyal, DC (headquarters).