Puttingal’s burn scars still hurt

A year past, victims of the fire tragedy that rocked Kollam yet to receive succour

It’s an year since the horrific Puttingal temple fireworks tragedy claimed 110 lives and injured more than 1,000 persons. The temple’s annual festival, which concluded last month, was low-key, without the usual ostentation or the spirited show of fireworks.

On Monday, to mark the tragedy and the loss of lives, there will be remembrances, prayers et al.

But the hard fact of the matter is neither the charge sheet in the case has been submitted nor has the ₹2-lakh relief to the dependants of those killed in the tragedy announced by the Central government been distributed.

Among them are victims who had their limbs severed or those who suffered serious spinal injuries.

Dependant existence

Many among them still lead a very dependant existence and have to seek help to even reach hospitals for periodic medical care.

Many of the dependants have lost confidence that they will get the Centre’s relief as promised.

However, the monetary relief from the State government and other organisations have come as a big help for those affected. The Paravur municipal council is preparing the list of those victims who require emergency monetary relief for medical care.

At the same time, there are allegations that those seriously maimed and bed-ridden did not get the expected consideration from any quarters.

Uncertainty also looms large over when the charge sheet will be submitted.

This is because of certain High Court and bureaucratic directions pertaining to the investigations by the Crime Branch that came when the investigations were reaching a final stage.

This compels the probe team to re-investigate some crucial angles of the case.

Buildings

Many of the buildings, including houses that were damaged in the tragedy, have also not been repaired and restored so far because the promised compensation from the government has not reached the victims.

The tragedy had taken place during the competitive pyrotechnics display held in connection with last year’s annual festival of the temple.

The tragedy occurred when the storehouse of the explosives for the pyrotechnics caught fire and exploded.

Huge quantities of explosives were stocked in the storehouse for carrying on the fireworks for about four hours.

The storehouse exploded shortly after the fireworks display began.