Bengaluru to get India’s second-largest stadium with 60,000 seats

Bengaluru will soon have India’s second-largest stadium with a seating capacity of 60,000. The project, announced by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, will be built in Surya City, Bommasandra, at an estimated cost of ₹1,650 crore. Spread across 75 acres, the upcoming facility will mark the second major stadium in the city after the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The sports complex is planned to include indoor and outdoor arenas, Olympic-size swimming pools, a gym, advanced training centres, guest houses, hostels, hotels, and a convention hall.

This comes after the June 4 Bengaluru stampede tragedy which claimed 11 lives near Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru during the RCB celebrations after the maiden IPL trophy win.

Thousands of jubilant fans gathered outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4, where the official celebrations were held. However, the event took a devastating turn as the overcrowded venue led to chaos when fans attempted to forcefully enter the stadium, resulting in a deadly stampede.

The stampede tragedy was also discussed on the floor of the assembly during the recently concluded monsoon session.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, while making a statement in the Assembly regarding the stampede tragedy in Bengaluru that claimed 11 lives during the IPL victory celebrations, maintained that such tragedies have occurred both in India and across the world.

He further claimed that no one in the country has ever taken responsibility or tendered resignations in such cases.

Protesting the statement, BJP and JD (S) MLAs led by Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka staged a walkout.

On action taken, CM Siddaramaiah said, “We have suspended five senior police officers. The police had refused permission for the celebrations but did not issue it in writing. RCB and Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) posted tweets between 7.01 am and 8 am. The 7.01 am post received 16 lakh views, the 8 am post 4 lakh views, and the 3.10 pm post 7.10 lakh views. Instead of acting, the police allowed the celebrations and did not get the posts deleted. They colluded with the organisers.”

RCB had latter announced ₹25 lakh compensation for each of the deceased’s families, and launched an initiative called ‘RCB Cares’.

(with inputs from syndicated feed)