Bengaluru stampede: Spotlight back on relocation of Chinnaswamy stadium, BTC, BGC and APMC Yard

There are two instances where the government has shifted out such establishments out of the core city areas. The APMC yard, which was operating out of N.T. Pet, was shifted to Yeshwanthpur in the late 1980s, and HAL airport was shut down for passenger traffic and a new airport was built near Devanahalli. 

Following the death of 11 persons in a stampede outside the M. Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru on June 4, a long-standing proposal to shift the stadium to the city’s outskirts has again gained currency. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, responding to a media query, said the State Government will consider the proposal. 

This has also brought to the fore similar proposals to shift other entities out of the core city areas.

The city police too are keen to get the stadium out of the central business district (CBD).

“The seating capacity of the stadium — 32,000 — has proven to be inadequate given the demand for tickets during almost every match. There are thousands of gatecrashers during every match. If there is a tragedy inside the stadium, our recent experience suggests evacuation is going to be a Herculean task. It is better if the stadium is shifted to the city’s outskirts where a larger stadium can be built with adequate parking space,” said a senior police official.

The city police will likely recommend the same to the State Government and to the Michael D’Cunha Commission, which is tasked with recommending measures to ensure such incidents do not recur. 

Sources in the government said that land has been earmarked for a sports stadium in the Dr. Shivaram Karanth Layout, being developed by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), and plans are afoot to build a similar stadium at the now proposed Bidadi Integrated Township project as well. 

Meanwhile, around 300 shops selling perishable items like onions, potatoes, garlic, and ginger in APMC yard, Yeshwantpur, were recently given a June 1 deadline to shift to Dasanapura yard near Nelamangala. For over a decade now, the government of Karnataka has been trying to shift the yard in Yeshwantpur to Dasanapura to avoid lorry traffic in the city, but has repeatedly failed. This time too, efforts have met with legal challenges forcing the government to seemingly back off.