Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Babulal Gaur said on Saturday that the Petlawad tragedy was the fallout of district administration’s failure to follow safety guidelines.
“It was the deadliest incident. Such a big incident took place because of administration’s failure,” Gaur told Deccan Herald at his bungalow.
The incident happened because several departments ignored safety issues, Gaur said.
On September 12 morning, a massive blast was caused by mining explosives stored in a shop in Petlawad town in Jhabua district. It killed 89 people and injured over 100 others.
After the incident, the state government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to
enquire into the incident and appointed a single-member commission to look into the issue. Retired High Court Judge Justice Aryendra Kumar Saxena has been appointed Chairman of the commission.
The commission’s terms of references include “in what circumstances explosion took place and whosoever is responsible for it and whether landlord or tenant had licence to store or use explosives. The commission will also enquire if any complaint against illegal storage of explosives in the building was filed then which officer received the complaint and what action was taken on it.”
A week after the incident, the state government has deposited a sum of Rs 5 lakh each in the bank accounts of family members of the 71 people killed. “The next of kin of 71 deceased persons have been provided relief worth Rs 3.5 crore lakh,” relief officials said.
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