Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivkumar’s statement
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Speaking to reporters at Vidhana Soudha, Shivakumar said, ‘In the interest of youth and cricket, the government has decided to allow further matches to be held at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.’ He clarified that this permission has been given with strict conditions. These include selling tickets only up to the sanctioned capacity, installation of large gates for crowd control, deployment of ambulances and implementing all security measures as per the recommendations of the Justice Michael D’Cunha Commission. Shivakumar said, ‘This is good news for cricket lovers. Sorry for the inconvenience and disappointment caused over the past few days. We have lost a prestigious tournament. We will have to be cautious in future.
State government had a meeting with KSCA and RCB
Earlier in the day, the state government held a high-level meeting with the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), RCB and senior officials. The meeting was presided over by Home Minister G. God did it. In this, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Tushar Girinath, DGP M.A. Salim, Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Commissioner Maheshwar Rao, Home Secretary K.V. Sharath Chandra, Bengaluru City Police Commissioner B. Dayanand, KSCA President Venkatesh Prasad and other officials were present.
After the meeting, Parameshwara said there was discussion on implementing key recommendations of the retired Justice Michael D’Cunha Commission set up to investigate the stampede. He said, we have directed KSCA and RCB to implement the key recommendations. They have started compliance on many points.
He said some of the recommendations are related to infrastructure, such as upgrading of gates, walkways and holding areas, while some are related to immediate measures, including ambulances, doctors and triage facilities. As per tradition, the opening match of the IPL season is played at the home ground of the defending champion. Since RCB won the title, the opening match is proposed to be held at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, for which permission was sought from the government.
The Home Minister clarified that in case of any untoward incident, the responsibility will lie with the organizers KSCA and RCB.
