Panel set up: IAS officer to probe Kharghar tragedy
The Maharashtra government on Thursday announced a one-member inquiry committee to probe the tragedy in Kharghar, where 14 persons lost their lives after suffering from heatstroke at the Maharashtra Bhushan award ceremony on April 16.
The inquiry will be conducted by the Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) Nitin Kareer, who has been asked to submit the report within a month. The committee will also recommend precautionary measures to be taken in the future for similar programmes.
The announcement of the committee comes on a day when Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar wrote to Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais, seeking his intervention as well as a probe into the incident by a retired judge. Pawar alleged that the deaths were not due to natural cause but because of the government’s negligence. The NCP leader also demanded that a case of culpable homicide be filed against the government.
“Initially, it was reported that 14 people died due to heatstroke. However, later it was revealed that people died due to the stampede. Also, the people were sitting without food and water for over seven hours and the ambulance could not reach to the patients due to poor planning. The company which was tasked with organising this programme had no prior experience of such huge events and despite excessive heat, the programme was organised in the open air,” stated Pawar in his letter.
The NCP leader said despite his demands of extending Rs 20 lakh aid to the kin of the deceased, and Rs 5 lakh for injured victims along with free treatment, none of them have been fulfilled by the state government. “I request you to direct the state government to do the same,” said Pawar to Bais.
