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Time of India
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
RCB's bitter victory - The cost of celebration
Bengaluru: An aerial view of fans gathering for Royal Challengers Bengaluru�s fan engagement programme after the team won the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, near M Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru, Karnataka. (PTI Photo) (PTI06_04_2025_000476B) By Vinod Jacob, Urban strategist and general manager, Namma Bengaluru Foundation The finger-pointing began almost as soon as the news broke. On June 4, a devastating stampede outside M Chinnaswamy Stadium shattered what, less than 24 hours earlier, had been a moment of pure jubilation for Royal Challengers Bengaluru fans, celebrating their first IPL trophy win after eighteen agonising seasons. Eleven lives were claimed, and dozens were injured. The irony was palpable: a triumph long yearned for, now overshadowed by loss. Arrests were made. Officials suspended, followed by more resignations, ex gratia promises — and even calls for Virat Kohli's arrest — while the blame game raged on. But this isn't merely about individual culpability. This is about a systemic breakdown — a question of total administrative failure, especially when dealing with an event that touches the very core of India's cricket passion. For a nation where cricket borders on religion, any public gathering of this magnitude demands meticulous foresight. Was M Chinnaswamy Stadium, with its 35,000-seat capacity, ever truly suitable for a city-wide victory parade, particularly one made free after initially being a paid event? The answer, tragically, is no. The entire celebration should have been shifted to a venue, like the Palace Grounds, the BIEC, or a similar venue, offering proper entry/exit points and capacity for millions. The fact that RCB was headed to the finals had been known for a full week. This provided ample time for the responsible authorities to engage in comprehensive planning, coordinate with the police machinery, and anticipate the monumental public turnout. To now deflect blame onto an already overburdened police department, reeling from the previous night's unruly celebrations where citizens went berserk, pulling out barricades, seems not just unfair, but a convenient diversion from deeper administrative shortcomings. And why was there need for two locations? A single, well-planned convergence at one venue could have ensured effective crowd management, robust contingency plans, and, most critically, citizen safety. That safety aspect appears to have been completely disregarded. The stadium's own infrastructure is wanting – narrow, unramped gates with metal obstructions, utterly incapable of handling a rush, even for a normal game, let alone a historic celebration. Bengaluru has hosted large-scale gatherings before; surely lessons could have been learned from major shows that proceeded without incident. Other metros – Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai – have successfully orchestrated similar mass celebrations. Why, then, can Bengaluru, the supposed IT capital, not leverage technology for better crowd management, anticipating flows and ensuring security? A bus parade, like those seen elsewhere, would have been infinitely safer than directing millions to a fixed point of convergence. Unchecked chaos also inflicted damage on Cubbon Park. Trees, plants, and even birds' nests were destroyed due to the event's chaotic spillover — another terrible blow to Bengaluru's strained biodiversity, a particularly painful scar on the so-called 'Garden City'. Fans have every right to celebrate after an 18-year wait; they cannot be blamed for their exuberant outpouring. While citizens do bear some responsibility for failing to adhere to basic crowd control measures like queuing and respecting barricades, the primary culpability lies with the planning. The critical misallocation of manpower at free gates, with too few police for too many unmanned entry points and the added burden of VIP security, tragically sealed the fate for those eleven lives. The euphoria of victory has been drowned out by the cries of anguish. Bengaluru must now reflect, learn, and ensure that no triumph, no matter how sweet, is ever again marred by such preventable sorrow. The blame isn't diffused; it lies squarely with a system unprepared to manage its grand moments. What systemic changes will we truly implement to prevent history from tragically repeating itself ?
Time of India
05-06-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
Victory laps turns death trap
Pictures by Robert Maria Clement and Karthikeyan Sairam A moment of joy spiraled into chaos as Bengaluru came out in full force to celebrate RCB's first-ever IPL title. What was meant to be a victory parade quickly turned into a deadly crush, claiming 11 lives and injuring several others, due to gaps in security protocol, a severe lack of planning, and lakhs of fans flooding the streets. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The situation was compounded by widespread confusion. Earlier, conflicting reports about the parade's cancellation surfaced, only for news to emerge minutes later that it was back on. To add to the disarray, Vidhana Soudha was announced as a second venue. As the parade finally began, the first death was reported. Further complicating matters, a lack of network connectivity meant many people didn't receive crucial notifications about the conflicting plans, exacerbating the already perilous situation. Once again, fan frenzy is in focus, highlighting how, coupled with civic unpreparedness, it can lead to devastating consequences. The psychology behind fan frenzy The euphoria of a major win, like RCB's triumph, often sees fans swept up in an overwhelming tide of emotion, sometimes leading to tragic consequences, says Shobhika Jaju, psychologist and psychotherapist. 'When we're caught up in a moment of excitement, there's a surge of dopamine, the feel-good chemical, which makes the moment feel incredibly rewarding. In these moments, we're not necessarily ignoring safety because we don't care — rather, we're fully immersed in the thrill. ' 'The stampede a result of poor planning, understaffed police' Urban strategist and general manager at Namma Bengaluru Foundation, who was present among those who received Bengaluru's home team at the airport, points out, 'Despite RCB reaching the semi-finals, there was no proper strategy for a potential victory. The police were understaffed. But we cannot blame the police; they were stretched thin because there were two celebration locations, which were completely unwarranted. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now That's where the politicians failed. The mismanagement by the KSCA was another significant failure. It's truly tragic that despite an 18-year wait for this victory, lives were lost. Bengaluru, despite its IT capital status, often functions like a 'glorified village' when it comes to capacity building and infrastructure management. We should have had drones, AI-powered crowd control, dedicated special buses, and better management of metro capacity.' Urban Designer Naresh Narasimhan notes, 'The M Chinnaswamy Stadium can accommodate only about 30,000 people, but nearly 3 lakh people turned up; that's ten times the space available. The police force, already overworked and tired on the night of June 4, faced an impossible task. A delay of a day or two for the victory lap would have provided crucial time for proper planning and organisation.' Virat mourns lives lost in stampede: Reacting to the news, Virat Kohli took to Instagram to share, 'At a loss for words. Absolutely gutted.' Ahmedabad, Jun 04 (ANI): Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli, after the team's win in the Indian Premier League 2025 final match against Punjab Kings, at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. (ANI Photo) Deeply anguished: RCB In their official statement, Royal Challengers Bengaluru said, 'We are deeply anguished by the unfortunate incidents that have come to light through media reports regarding public gatherings all over Bengaluru in anticipation of the team's arrival this afternoon.
