During the celebrations for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) win, a stampede resulted in 11 deaths and over 50 injuries. Post this tragic incident, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah expressed some thoughts towards moving the M Chinnaswamy stadium to a safer location. The stampede happened outside the stadium, as a massive crowd gathered to celebrate RCB’s first IPL title, leading to panic and chaos.
“The government will look into shifting the cricket stadium to another location,” the CM said to ANI. In an act of accountability and dissent against the tragedy, five police officers in charge of security were suspended while changes have been affected to the state’s intelligence chief and the Chief Minister’s political secretary.
The state government of Karnataka announced enhanced compensation for the victims’ families from INR10 lakh to INR25 lakh for each deceased. The CM said incidents like this should never happen and that it has affected him and the entire government deeply. He went on to say that even though the government has faced vociferous criticism, there is a view in government circles that the government has done all it can in this matter and has put legal action in place against those who are culpable.
CM Siddaramaiah shared that, with all the common public concerned about the stadium location and its ability to handle huge crowds, they are open to considering a relocation of the M Chinnaswamy stadium but would require careful planning for a suitable new site. He assured that public safety would be the primary consideration moving forward.
