18 November,2010 08:40 AM IST | | Mid day corresspondent
MiD DAY had reported how delays by various agencies in getting their act together led to a heavier casualty figure
Apart from other alleged discrepancies, the Delhi government has asked a one- member panel to check whether the response system was up to the mark in the aftermath of Monday's Laxmi Nagar building collapse.
Former High Court Judge, Justice Lokeshwar Prashad, will conduct the inquiry.
Picking up the pieces: Rescue workers search for survivors under the
rubble of the collapsed multi-storey building in Lalita Park area of east
Delhi on Wednesday. PIC/Subhash Barolia
The panel will asses the works of various relief and rehabilitation agencies to the incident of collapse in terms of the responses being timely, effective, and efficient and will also indicate measures required to improve the responses, a Delhi government official spokesperson said.
MiD DAY was the first to point out that the response of the city administration left a lot to be desired, possibly resulting in several deaths. About 70 people were killed and many more injured in the east Delhi tragedy.
Apart from response, the one member panel would determine the immediate and proximate causes for the collapse and circumstances and sequence of events leading to the collapse of the building.
It would also determine the number of victims, both dead and injured. The judicial inquiry ordered on Wednesday will submit its report within 90 days.
| Eleventh hour |
| While civil defense personnel had arrived after two hours, the personnel from National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), a specialised trained force for such disasters, arrived after three hours of the incident. Till then no cranes had arrived to remove the debris. |
