 "Where does the buck stop? Bengaluru stampede another grim reminder of utter lack of accountability?")
What happened in Bengaluru on Wednesday is heartbreaking and gut-wrenching on just so many levels. 11 people lost their lives and reportedly more than 75 were left injured , several reportedly in critical condition. This was news that left most people completely gob-smacked. The frenzy amongst RCB fans in Bengaluru was not surprising, after all the team has become IPL champions for the first time since the inception of the league in 2008.
This was a dream 18 years in the making. What is surprising though that despite warnings and real concerns being raised, the people who took the call went ahead with this rather ill-timed and haphazardly put together event to celebrate the city’s first IPL title. Cricket is a religion in India, yes, but nothing can trump safety, not even IPL euphoria.
Anyone who lives in India knows just how quickly a crowd can become unruly and how difficult it can be to control a crowd that numbers in lakhs and is pumped-up on the heady cocktail of euphoria and hero-worship.
Which is why this was another extremely grim reminder of how easily safety concerns are put in the backseat in the country. Did the powers that be forget that India is the most populous country in the world? Did they not know that RCB is an extremely popular IPL franchise, whose popularity extends well beyond the geographical borders of the city of Bengaluru and that potentially lakhs would show up to greet the team and catch one glimpse of their cricketing heroes?
How could this happen? Who allowed it? And who should be held accountable?
As things stand right now, the buck is being passed, as usual. The Karnataka Home Minister has gone on record to say – “We did not request RCB or the KCA, they organised it. They are the ones who brought the team to Bengaluru. The government also felt it should facilitate this, as it was the Bengaluru team.” So, are we saying that the state government felt it could not put its foot down and demand that the victory parade be held at a later date, when overall public safety protocols could have been put in place better?
The RCB franchise meanwhile has put out a statement saying – “Immediately upon being made aware of the situation, we promptly amended our program, and followed, the guidance and advice of the local administration…” The Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister has confirmed that he asked the franchise to end the celebrations “within 10 minutes” and that the team complied immediately, but surely the franchise should have waited for a complete green signal from the state authorities, especially the police force, who is responsible for crowd control, before going ahead with an event of this magnitude? Was the franchise not aware of just how important crowd control is when it comes to events like these? Were they 100% convinced that all proper safety protocols were in place?
Impact Shorts
More ShortsInterestingly, the Deccan Herald published quotes of a senior Bengaluru police officer who said – “We tried to discourage the government as well as the RCB franchise from Tuesday night against having any celebrations on Wednesday. We told them it would be ill-advised and recommended holding the event next Sunday when emotions would have cooled down.”
In other words, advice of the people who were actually going to control the crowd, which anyone worth their salt knows can turn unruly at the drop of a hat at an event like this, was ignored. But why? Again, speaking to the Deccan Herald, a senior officer revealed that neither the franchise nor the state government wanted to wait till the weekend. One reason given for this was that the foreign players wouldn’t be available, if they waited. No one wants to stop a team from celebrating a big win with their die-hard fans, but surely not at the risk of human lives. The VIPs will always be well protected, but what about the common man? He or she has no bodyguards.
The Chinnaswamy stadium is not a very large venue. It has a capacity of around thirty-five thousand. According to news reports about three lakh people showed up at the stadium for the celebration. That’s almost 10 times the capacity of the ground. According to the Chief Minister of Karnataka, no one expected so many people to show up. The question here is who advised the government about roughly how many fans were expected to be there? And how can anyone know this for sure? According to news reports, the initial plan was to hold a procession from the Vidhana Soudha, where the team was felicitated by the CM to the Chinnaswamy stadium. Thankfully better sense prevailed here and that plan was scrapped.
In the middle of all of this, spare a thought for the police personnel who were in charge of crowd control. Almost every single image of the stampede and the burgeoning crowd that has been published, where you can see police personnel, shows them gritting their teeth, trying to control an ocean of people. It wasn’t surprising to read reports of “mild lathi-charge”.
The IPL final finished late at night on Tuesday, June 3 and the felicitation and city celebration were planned for the very next day. In other words, there was no scope or time for any fixed event timings to be disseminated, which further added to the confusion. All that the fans knew was that the team was returning to the city with the trophy and that they would get a chance to catch a glimpse of the team they have supported, regardless of multiple seasons of heartbreaks.
According to some fans, only two of the thirteen stadium gates had been opened for entry. Imagine a crowd of lakhs trying to squeeze into a stadium that can only accommodate thirty-five thousand, through two narrow gates. Though initially there were plans of a pass system, entry was made free, so not surprisingly, everyone who had shown up wanted to enter the stadium.
According to official statements, about five thousand police personnel were deployed. Five thousand officers trying to manage a crowd of three lakh - you don’t have to be a logistics expert to know that that is a recipe for disaster. And this could potentially have been avoided if the advice of the senior police officers was heeded. All they needed was more time to plan this better. The turnaround time was ridiculously limited for an event of this scale. Was it surprising then to hear of broken barricades, of cries of anguish and despair, of young people lying motionless and others giving them CPR?
Another big question that needs to be asked is – were all the authorities and decision makers ready with at least a rough plan or model for a procession? RCB entered the final on May 29 – five days before the event. There was a 50% chance of them winning the title. Surely, many of the logistical chinks could have been ironed out well in advance.
Thankfully, in the middle of all of this, one voice of reason, in terms of avoiding such tragedies in the future is that of the BCCI’s. The Indian Board has said that everyone needs to learn a lesson from what happened in Bengaluru on Wednesday, calling the heart-breaking incident an “eye-opener”. The BCCI has rightly pointed out that they cannot stop or allow a franchise from celebrating a win in a particular way. But going ahead, in the light of what has happened, they can definitely try and bring all ten teams to the table to try and figure out a safe and fun way of celebrating a team’s IPL triumph.
In the last twenty years, there have been at least ten major stampedes in India. The last one was at the Prayag Maha Kumbh Mela in January this year, which left 30 people dead and 90 injured. Crowds, no matter where you go in India, are a reality. Surely euphoria over a first-time championship win cannot make people forget just how easily a crowd situation can turn fatal here.
A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the incident. But the million-dollar question is – where exactly will the buck stop?
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