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

M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Police say that the seating capacity of the stadium — 32,000 — has proven inadequate given the demand for tickets during almost every cricket match.  | Photo Credit: Murali Kumar K

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. 

In the last week of May, the city police gave a report to the government recommending shifting of shops selling perishables at Yeshwantpur yard to Dasanapura, citing parking issues for lorries leading to traffic chaos in the area. 

Proposals to shift the Bangalore Turf Club and the Bangalore Golf Club to the city’s outskirts are decades old. However, the police make a distinction between APMC Yard-Chinnaswamy Stadium and BTC-BGC. While the former lead to traffic congestion and crowding, the latter two do not, the police said.

Sources in one of the clubs said that successive State Governments have an eye on BTC and BGC land as they are unable to find large tracts of land in the CBD. 

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. 

However, Ravi Kumar of Bangalore Potato and Onion Traders’ Association, said the government must provide basic amenities and rehabilitate those operating in the Yeshwantpur yard if they want them to shift to Dasanapura. “During any such relocation, rehabilitation is key. The yard at Dasanapura has shops less than 300 sqft while some of shops we operate out of in Yeshwantpur bare as large as 4,000 sqft. The yard at Dasanapura lacks basic amenities. There is no proper transport connectivity as well. We cannot be victimised like this, for the government’s decision to relocate us,” he said. 

Relocating not the only solution 

However, many, including urban planners, argue otherwise. “Relocating stadiums, clubs, and all big venues to the peri-urban areas around the city is not going to solve everything. These areas are poorly connected by road and public transport networks. The need of the hour is for urban management to anticipate multiple crises,” an urban planner said. 

Former DG&IGP S.T. Ramesh said that while shifting out the stadium could be done, it won’t solve the core issue. “However big a stadium we build, it will not be enough, seeing the crowds that gathered on June 4. What we need are new crowd management techniques,” he said. 

Published - June 11, 2025 10:32 am IST