Bengaluru stampede: Cubbon Park in shambles, walkers' association files complaint
Written by Mehak Singh,
The Bengaluru stampede that recently claimed 11 lives has also left one of the city's largest open spaces, Cubbon Park, grappling with significant damage.
A quiet walk through Cubbon Park revealed subtle but telling signs of the chaos. Bent and broken fences, snapped branches, and tree trunks marked with caution tape silently narrated the story of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru victory celebrations gone wrong, which resulted in the stampede near the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
While Bengaluru has largely returned to its usual pace, the scars left behind in its green lungs remain visible. The Cubbon Park Walkers Association, a group that has long advocated for the protection of the park, has filed a formal complaint demanding accountability.
According to the complaint, the celebration was poorly managed, resulting in a large crowd spilling over into the adjoining Cubbon Park. The Association has alleged that the gathering resulted in damage to park fences, the uprooting of ornamental plants, broken branches on trees and even defecation in the area.
Advocate Umesh S, counsel for and also the president of the Association, said in the complaint, 'There has been a complete lack of preventive measures, and till date, no official damage assessment has been made. This is a serious failure on the part of the authorities.'
'We get good oxygen in Cubbon Park and Lalbagh only. We can't go anywhere in Bengaluru for that. At least, we can save the park for future generations,' he added.
Umesh also raised a larger urban planning issue, calling the location of the Chinnaswamy Stadium 'outdated'. 'The stadium deal was signed in 1970, but Bengaluru has changed. The current setup no longer suits the traffic and civic demands of today,' he said.
Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the stampede, one noticeable shift is the increased presence of police vans and personnel in and around Cubbon Park.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Kusuma G, Deputy Director, Cubbon Park, Horticulture department, said a lot of ornamental plants which were planted on Dr Ambedkar Veedi (between Karnataka High Court and Vidhana Soudha) and railings have been destroyed.
'The department is accessing the damages caused and an estimation will be made before communicating it to the government,' she added.
(Mehak Singh is an intern with The Indian Express)
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