Pm To Discuss Steps With Religious Leaders To Prevent Tragedies

Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda yesterday said he would soon convene a meeting of religious leaders to discuss the extra precautionary measures to be taken at religious congregations to prevent tragedies like the fire in Baripada that killed more than 200 people.

The Prime Minister, who visited Baripada yesterday, announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 50,000 each to the next of kin of the deceased and those permanently disabled, and Rs 25,000 each to the injured. This is in addition to the compensation of Rs 25,000 to the families of the deceased and Rs 10,000 to grievously injured persons announced by Chief Minister J B Patnaik yesterday.

 

Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, Sharad Pawar, who accompanied the Prime Minister to Baripada, said an enquiry should be conducted to find the cause of the mishap.

The state government has already ordered an administrative probe into the incident by the revenue divisional commissioner of northern zone.

Minister for parliamentary affairs Srikant Jena and former Orissa Chief Minister Biju Patnaik of Janata Dal too accompanied the Prime Minister.

Earlier yesterday, J B Patnaik and many of his cabinet colleagues had rushed to Baripada after the state Assembly adjourned for the day to pay homage to the deceased.

Meanwhile, the authorities have shifted some of the critically injured to the SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack.

The tragedy, the worst ever fire mishap in Orissa, has sent a shockwave throughout the state. According to eyewitnesses, the entire venue looked gruesome with charred and mangled bodies strewn all around.

Most of the victims have been burnt beyond recognition. The full list of victims was likely to be compiled late last evening, sources said.

Sunday was the last day of the ill-fated three-day religious convention to which 20,000 devotees of Swami Nigamananda had come to attend from West Bengal, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi, apart from Orissa.

Nearly 8,000 devotees were trapped in the inferno when the temporary thatched huts in which they were taking rest after lunch caught fire.

Of the 18 cottages built at the sprawling venue to house the devotees, eight were completely gutted.

There are now two versions from the eyewitness account about the cause of fire. One, that the fire broke out due to an electrical short circuit in one of the cottages; and two, that it was caused by the bursting of a gas cylinder used for cooking.

Witnesses said there was only one narrow entrance to the makeshift venue.