Country mourns Kerala temple tragedy, fireworks safety in focus

New DelhiKollam The country was on Sunday left shocked and saddened as it woke up to a massive temple tragedy in Kerala with the President and the Prime Minister joining the people in mourning the loss of life in the incident which brought into focus the question of fireworks safetyAt least 100 people were killed and 383 injured in the major fire at around 330 am that engulfed the 100yearold Puttingal Devi Temple complex packed with thousands of people near Kollum during a display of fireworks held by the temple management despite the authorities denying permission for itFire at temple in Kollam is heartrending and shocking beyond words My thoughts are with families of the deceased and prayers with the injured Prime Minister Narendra Modi who visited the site said He said the horrific tragedy cannot be described in wordsPresident Pranab Mukerjee also conveyed heartfelt condolences on loss of lives in Kerala temple fire Praying for the departed souls and well being of the injured Congress President Sonia Gandhi asked Kerala government to ensure ample and immediate relief measures whileparty VicePresident Rahul Gandhi too visited the site and the hospital to inquire about the injuredLok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan BJP Chief Amit Shah chief ministers governors and leaders of various parties expressed grief over the tragedyExpressing shock and grief over the incident CPI leader D Raja said the state government and temple authorities should answer if they had taken adequate safety measuresThere are several issues which need to be answered by the state government and the temple authorities whenever there is temple festival thousands of people gather but were there adequate safety arrangementsNational Conference leader Omar Abdullah said his thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their familiesGod be with them in this hour of darkness amp despair he tweetedIndian Medical Association in Kerala decided to move the Kerala High Court seeking a ban on display of fireworks which are common in the state during festivals and political programmesIMA Kerala president Dr A V Jayakrishnan said their Thiruvananthapuram branch President R C Sreekumar would file a writ petition before the High Court seeking to curb use of firecrackersThe mishap occurred as sparks of the fireworks during the festivities fell on the store room Kambapura where crackers were stored leading to many explosions which were heard over a radius of one kilometre The temple complex is around 70 kms from state capital ThiruvananthapuramA large number of people died when concrete chunks and iron grills from the structures fell on those who had gathered to watch the festivities according to eyewitnessesPankajakshi Amma on whose complaint the Kollam collector had denied permission to the Puttingal Devi temple authorities to conduct the fireworks display today said she would continue her fight and resort to legal steps to ensure a total banPankajakshi Ammas house located about 50 metres from the tragedy site was damaged too in the mishap She and her family had approached the district administration requesting a ban on the fireworks display this year Though revenue officials had visited them to verify thecomplaint and take evidence and informed them that there was a stay on the display it was however held her sonin law Prakash saidBollywood too was shaken by the tragedy with filmmaker Shekhar Kapur appealing for control over fire works People go to pray and celebrate life Come away in wake of death and tragedy fireworks getting dangerous and must must be controlled Kollam Actress Dia Mirza blamed the tragedy on negligenceWhen tragedies are struck by human apathy and negligence it makes it so much more painfulso many innocent lives lost Gutted KollamWhile ordering a judicial probe into the incident Kerala Chief Minister Ooomen Chandy also announced exgratia relief of Rs 10 lakh to kin of each of those killed in fire tragedy and Rs 2 lakh for seriously injuredModi also announced an exgratia relief of Rs 2 lakh for the kin of the dead and Rs 50000 for those seriously injuredVery sad news from Kerala My deepest condolences to the families who lost their loved ones Prayers for those injured West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweetedSaddened by the Kerala temple fire tragedy My heartfelt condolences to families of the deceased and prayers with those injured her Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar said on TwitterRJD supremo Lalu Prasad too expressed grief at the Kollam temple fire incident saying heart goes out for the victims and familiesVery sad to hear such tragic news Prayers with all victims Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a tweetMeanwhile Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Union Minister of State Rajyavardhan Rathore also expressed grief over the death of people in Kollam tragedyRaje in a statement expressed her condolence for those killed in the fire at Kollams Puttingal temple this morning