Telangana: ‘Suryapet gallery collapse an unfortunate incident’

"The local organisers had put in a lot of effort to conduct this tournament and the collapse happened on the opening day," Telangana Kabaddi Association secretary K Jagdishwar Yadav.

Hyderabad: The unfortunate collapse of the wooden-structured gallery marred the opening day of the 47th junior national kabaddi championship in Suryapet in Nalgonda district, on Monday. Usually, any sport in small towns attracts a big crowd and they even construct temporary wooden galleries for the occasion.

The organisers in Suryapet had made elaborate arrangements to conduct this national and since kabaddi is very popular in small towns, particularly since the pro kabaddi was started a few years ago, a large crowd was expected on all the playing days. On Monday, a big enthusiastic crowd thronged the SP Office ground in Suryapet to watch the game. The particular stand collapsed because of overcrowding, leading to injuries to many players.

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Telangana Kabaddi Association secretary K Jagdishwar Yadav said it was sad the gallery had collapsed. “The local organisers had put in a lot of effort to conduct this tournament and the collapse happened on the opening day. But the district officials made a tremendous job in the rescue operations although there were a few injuries to the spectators. Given the enthusiasm, we are trying to restrict the crowd from today,’’ he said.

However, there is a greater danger lurking around the corner in the form of Covid-19. With rise in Covid-19 cases, there is a possibility of the virus spreading among the crowd with many of the spectators watching the matches without masks or with proper sanitization. Interestingly, most of the international matches are being played without the crowd. When a huge crowd turned up for the second T20 between India and England, the BCCI, sensing danger, banned the spectators for the next three matches and the three one-day internationals will also be played in front of an empty stadium in Pune.

Jagdishwar Yadav pleaded helplessness as regard to crowd control for the nationals. Even there are no mandatory tests for the crowd before the entrance of the stadium. “We will try to have the restrictive crowd and take adequate precautions,’’ he said.

Kabaddi is one of the contact sports where there could be very danger of spreading the virus with the chants of kabaddi, kabaddi. But according to Yadav, all the players and officials will be going through all the tests before the match. “The rooms will be sanitized and the players and officials will be regularly checked. The district administration has even kept 35-beds for isolation in case of any Covid-19 positive patients,’’ he said. Over 1,000 players are participating in this nationals.

Meanwhile, the 72nd National Track Cycling championship will be held at SATS Velodrome in Osmania University here from March 27. The organisers of the Telangana Cycling Association said they are taking all precautions while conducting this championship which is coming to the city after a gap of 14 years.

Former international Maxwell Trevor said they will strictly follow the protocols. “The hotels and the Velodrome will fully be sanitized. In fact, when we proposed to conduct this national, the State Government was very clear that we should follow strict health protocols in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. The GHMC health department will open a cell and monitor the players and officials. No spectators will be allowed and only the competitors of the particular race will be given entry into the Velodrome,’’ he said.

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