In order to provide financial support to those who had been badly injured or maimed in the April 10 fireworks explosion at the Puttingal Devi temple, the Paravur municipality is starting an ad hoc relief fund that will mainly depend on contributions from public.
Municipal chairman K.P. Kurup told presspersons that most of those injured were daily wage earners. Some of them who were still battling for their lives might not be able to work again.
‘State of shock’
For others it might take a couple of months before they could fully recover to start working again. People living in the vicinity of the temple were still in a state of shock.
The challenges inflicted by the explosion were many. Financially supporting the injured assumed equal significance as the support extended to the dependents of those killed, Mr. Kurup said. He wanted the tragedy to be declared a national disaster and called upon the State government to urgently intervene in the issue.
He said that the relief fund had been named Chairman’s Puttingal Accident Relief Fund and the municipal secretary would be the ex officio secretary of the fund.
In the name of the fund an account had been opened in the Paravur branch of the State Bank of Travancore with account number 67359797894 (IFS Code SBTR0000071), Mr. Kurup said.
Government directions
He said that contributions coming to the account would be utilised as per the directions of the State government and the ad hoc committee constituted.
He called upon the people to support the fund with generous contributions.
Mr. Kurup said that 369 houses were destroyed or damaged in the explosion. The number of people maimed in the tragedy was yet to be calculated.
The damaged houses would have to be repaired before the arrival of the monsoon.
He lauded the rescue works which was launched soon after the explosion and said it was a model.
