NGT asks chief secy to probe ‘security lapse' in cracker blast at Puri yatra
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Cuttack:
National Green Tribunal
(NGT) has directed the chief secretary "to institute an inquiry" into the "grave security lapse" that led to the
firecracker explosion
killing 17 people and injuring 25 severely during Chandan Yatra in Puri on May 29 last year.In the order uploaded on Thursday, NGT's east zone bench further directed the chief secretary to "take appropriate action against those found guilty of gross negligence and lapse in taking proper security steps to prevent the occurrence of the incident in question".The bench comprising Justice B Amit Sthalekar (judicial member) and Dr Vijay Kulkarni (expert member) said, "For future, it is directed that no explosives of any kind shall be permitted in such religious functions where the swell of the crowd is not just in thousands but in several lakhs and even a small lapse can result in loss of lives of lakhs of people.
One cannot rule out that such an incident can even be triggered by ill-intentioned and anti-social elements using more lethal explosives other than mere firecrackers."NGT was hearing a petition filed by Sanjay Kumar Nayak (46), a resident of Aska in Ganjam district, seeking direction to the authorities to take steps to prohibit bursting of crackers during the rituals of Lord Jagannath in Puri. Advocates Sankar Prasad Pani and Ashutosh Padhy appeared in virtual mode on the petitioner's behalf.While ordering the probe, the bench said it was evident from the Puri collector's affidavit that no one noticed crackers being taken in a trolley and stacked at Dasa Tutha on the north-west corner of the Narendra Pokhari without permission from the competent authority. During Chandan Yatra on May 29, 2024, a cracker after being ignited hit the stack of crackers kept at Dasa Tutha, which led to all the crackers getting lit and causing a huge explosion."This clearly shows that there was gross dereliction of duty on the part of the district administration including the police authorities," the bench observed, adding, "The district administration and the police administration cannot be absolved of their negligence in such a grave security lapse." "In the instant case, it was stacking of firecrackers but one cannot rule out the possibility that it could have been something even more lethal resulting in a massive explosion causing extensive damage to the Lord Jagannath temple itself and loss of human life on a large scale," the bench also observed, while disposing of the petition."That apart, it cannot be ruled out that some offensive material could have been loaded on the trolley rickshaw and carried in the midst of the Chandan Yatra so as to offend the sensibilities of the devotees and thereby create a riotous situation," the bench said. It questioned why the district and police administrations didn't anticipate such an eventuality."The police swinging into action after the occurrence of the incident does not explain the lethargy and total inactivity and the requirement to be vigilant at all times particularly on the occasion of religious functions," the bench observed.
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