Bengaluru Stampede: Glory to Grief
The moment RCB won the IPL for the first time it was known to everyone that over a lakh people would gather in the garden city to greet the victorious side.
- The moment Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won the Indian
Premier League (IPL) for the first time since the beginning of this cash-rich
tournament 18 years ago, it was known to everyone that over a lakh people would
gather in the garden city to greet the victorious side. Thus, the state
government was duty-bound to take precautionary measures well in advance to
control the huge crowd. The government not only failed to take such measures,
but its decision to prevent the IPL-winning side from taking out a victory
parade—on the pretext of traffic jams on the congested city roads—actually
added fuel to the fire. Being denied a chance to get a glimpse of their heroes,
all the fans who had gathered on both sides of the road from the airport to the
Chinnaswamy Stadium frantically started moving towards the stadium, where the
much-publicised felicitation programme was scheduled to be held. As a result,
more than two lakh people started jostling to enter a stadium with a capacity
of only thirty-three thousand—and the tragic incident took place.
- It’s a clear example of the collective failure of the state
administration, RCB team management, and the Karnataka Cricket Association
(KCA) officials. All of them did nothing to reduce the hype associated with
winning the coveted trophy for the first time in 18 years. Rather, in their own
wisdom, they contributed generously towards the tragedy.
- Firstly, anticipating the huge frenzy associated with
cricket and cricketers in the country, the state government should have made a
proper plan so that the celebration could take place without a hitch. In this
context, the denial of permission for holding a roadshow citing traffic snarls
had all the ingredients of an impending tragedy. The decision shows the
authorities' poor knowledge of crowd control. Moreover, if smooth movement of
traffic happens to be the priority, how can political leaders and parties often
take out roadshows, processions, etc.? So, the authorities would have done well
to allow the roadshow to prevent people from gathering in one place.
- Furthermore, it is quite perplexing to note that a
misinformation campaign about free entry to the stadium was doing the rounds on
social media for a long time, and no one made any effort to stop it from
spreading. Again, all the concerned parties should have made an effort to find
a compromise formula, rather than trying to outsmart each other. The police
never came up with any alternative plan after putting an embargo on the
roadshow. On the other hand, the organisers of the felicitation programme never
made proper arrangements to accommodate large crowds in such a small stadium.
Rather, their arrogance came to light when the event was not stopped after the
tragedy. It’s a lame excuse that the news of the outside turmoil never reached
inside the stadium, especially in the age of information technology. It proves
that the organisers really cared a hoot for those people for whom cricket is a
religion and the cricketers are demi-gods.
