- The eighteenth edition of the extremely popular and cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) concluded recently, following a riveting two-and-a-half months of cricket that was gobbled up by the crazy fans not only in India but all around the cricketing world too. Yes, there was a ten-day suspension of play due to Op Sindoor in between. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) emerged the eventual winners after a wait of 17 years, triumphing over Punjab Kings by six runs in the thrilling final at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. Cricket-crazy fans of Bengaluru and Karnataka in general were thrilled to pieces and went wild celebrating the win with gay abandon. While everyone seemed to be celebrating this win, what turned out the next day was unbelievable.
PC: MHDTV Cricket News
- The euphoria surrounding the RCB’s win was palpable, and the hastily arranged celebrations to honour the cricketers for their stupendous success turned completely tragic when the organisers, law enforcement agencies, the government, and the KSCA stood exposed for complete mismanagement. Prima facie, it is crystal clear that the tragedy could have been entirely preventable. As the popular saying and understanding in the country goes, life is cheap here. It feels cruel. It also feels true all too often. Thus, how true it is of what happened at M Chinnaswamy Stadium recently. RCB fans felt their dreams were fulfilled, mission accomplished, and the rejoicing messages were unending. Even the state’s political class was sharing congratulatory messages.
PC: Hindustan Times
- It defies comprehension how the authorities failed to gauge that a massive crowd would pour into the celebratory space. Tragically, the stampede occurred, and deaths. Inarguably, these were entirely preventable. Bengaluru traffic police had initially said that the victory parade was cancelled, and then said they had prepared in case it happened. If they had indeed done so, the stadium wouldn’t have gotten packed far beyond capacity. 35,000 is the capacity, but more than 3 lakhs were present surrounding the stadium. The moot point to ponder over here is why various authorities failed to put in place measures to prevent uncontrollable crowds from approaching the venue. Utter chaos prevailed right from the time the celebration event was announced.
PC: News Arena
- The Bengaluru metro was running overcrowded, but with alacrity, it was issuing frequent warning announcements. Social media was also full of live images and videos that should have initiated safety measures in various control rooms. Every part of the government seemed to have participated in cheering the RCB victory. No less than the Dy CM received the victorious team at the airport. Just over the past year, we have witnessed stampedes take the lives of Kumbh travellers at the New Delhi railway station, at a Dalit gathering in Hathras, a devotees’ queue in Tirupati, a movie promotional event in Hyderabad, and the list continues. Simply because the basic crowd management is missing here. And we have not learnt from past mistakes. Sad.
