Bengaluru has been seeing heavy rains over the past few days, which has brought respite from the sweltering heat for residents. However, the rains also brought some destruction, as the Atal Bihari Vajpayee stadium saw a whole section of its gallery collapsing. The stadium was built just over a month ago, and on Sunday, May 8, the roof of the gallery collapsed along with the metal structures that supported it.
The stadium, located in Bengaluru’s HSR Layout, was inaugurated by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on March 1. It was built at a cost of Rs 50 crore. Visuals of the stadium after the downpour on Sunday show the audience gallery’s covering, which consists of a curved sheet supported by metal rods, fallen to the side as the metal bases that held the rods in place were broken and bent over. The sheet was also torn in places where trees pierced it as the structure fell backwards.
As per reports, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had employed an Andhra Pradesh-based contractor to construct the stadium. However, the role of the BJP MLA of the area, Sathish Reddy, is being called into question over a major portion of the gallery being destroyed despite being operational for just over a month. Congress leader Kavita Reddy has alleged that Satish Reddy is “directly responsible for the low-quality work in the HSR Layout stadium”. In a video, Kavita Reddy said that CM Bommai had attended the inauguration ceremony of the “half-built” stadium on March 1.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee stadium wall and gallery collapsed last night due to heavy rains. CM had inaugurated the gallery on March 1. The stadium was constructed at a cost of Rs. 50 crore. #Bengaluru #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/yDUKhLft4O
— Imran Khan (@KeypadGuerilla) May 9, 2022
“Yesterday, after just one bout of rain, the covering of the stadium broke, and a few people were injured. All this happened after it rained just once, it has not even been two months since the stadium has been constructed. It is seen what kind of shoddy construction has been done,” she said, adding that the complete responsibility for the incident rested with MLA Satish Reddy.
She also said that residents of the area had opposed the stadium, as they wanted an open ground there instead. “When it rains like this again, we need to ask if the sheets that they have installed at the stadium over the stormwater drain there fall on someone, and if the rest of the structure will collapse on citizens,” Kavita Reddy said.