Bringing back bitter memories of the water scarcity during the Asian Test Championship game between India and Pakistan in Kolkata two years back, drinking water was again at a premium in the Eden Gardens today.

Even scribes covering the opening day of the second Test between Australia and India were in for a trying time, having to go without water the entire length of the day.

With the authorities putting a blanket ban on carrying any kind of bottles, including plastic bottles, presspersons were denied supply of mineral water bottles.

Employees of the caterer engaged by the organisers Cricket Association of Bengal pleaded helplessness saying they were being prevented by the police from bringing drinking water to the press box.

There was also no trace of the promised water pouches in the media box. Repeated requests from the scribes only elicited empty assurances from the organisers.

Complaints of water shortage was heard from almost all the galleries. Many complained that the pouches, which were distributed in the early part of the day in some stands, disappeared as the day progressed.

The spectators in the Asian Test Championship encounter between India and Pakistan had faced a severe shortage of drinking water. Many believe that the crowd violence, which forced the authorities to complete the match before empty stands, was partly precipitated by the drinking water crisis.

© PTI