Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Apr 17: The death toll in the sunstroke-related incident went up to 13 while 18 others are still recuperating in the hospitals in the Maharashtra Bhushan Award ceremony providing an opening to the opposition to launch a stinging attack on the Eknath Shinde government in Maharashtra.
The Opposition three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has accused the ruling Shinde-led Shiv Sena-BJP dispensation of negligence and demanded the government be booked for culpable homicide.
Thousands of people attended the event in the scorching sun in Kharghar in Navi Mumbai on Sunday where social activist Dattatreya Narayan alias Appasaheb Dharmadhikari was presented the Maharashtra Bhushan award by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the presence of CM Shinde, Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and other dignitaries.
The ceremony was organised in a sprawling 306-acre ground in Kharghar which was attended by several lakh people, most of them followers of Dharmadhikari who was conferred with Maharashtra’s top civilian award by Amit Shah.
The heat-related deaths have proved a major embarrassment for the Shinde-Fadnavis administration and Shah, who drew sharp criticism and stinging rebukes from the Opposition as well as the public for having made the public bear the brunt of the blazing sun while the VIPs ensconced in covered podiums remained safe from the heat. More than 100 people were taken ill in the scorching heat with 13 dead and at least 18 are still undergoing treatment in various hospitals.
Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar, who visited the MGM Hospital at Kamothe in Navi Mumbai along with his MVA ally, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray, termed the incident “most unfortunate.” Both Pawar and Thackeray enquired about the health of the people undergoing treatment there after suffering from sunstroke.
Hinting at carelessness on the part of the organisers while fixing the timing of the event, Pawar said: “It is a well-known fact that during April-May, the temperature is very high. During these days, the temperature touches 40 degrees Celsius. Hence, it needs to be probed as to who had fixed the noon timing for the award function,” the NCP leader said.
Pawar said the function could have been held in the evening and Union Home Minister could have taken a helicopter to reach the venue instead of leaving the people to bear the sun’s onslaught.
The event, for which people had started gathering since morning, began around 11.30 a.m. on Sunday and went on till around 1 p.m. The ground was packed with followers of the Shree Sadasya (Dharmadhikari’s organisation) to witness the function. The seating arrangement for the attendees was made in the open and there was no shed to offer protection from the heat.
Demanding a case of culpable homicide be lodged against the Shinde-BJP government, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said the “sloppy planning” on part of the administration took a tragic toll on the people who came for the programme. “This incident is very painful and shameful,” Patole said.
Patole said the tragedy might have been avoided if Appasaheb Dharmadhikari had been given the award when it was announced in January itself at a time when the weather was still clement. Hitting out at Shah and the BJP, the State Congress chief remarked: “But the BJP wanted to bring a big leader who prepared an air-conditioned platform for himself, in which the State Cabinet sat while the people suffered in the sun.”
The Congress leader said the BJP had deliberately used Dharmadhikari’s followers to gain petty political mileage. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut criticised the Shinde-Fadnavis government for “catering only to VIPs for the award ceremony” and not making adequate provisions for commoners who were sitting in the scorching heat for hours for the event.
“The tragedy might have been averted had the program been held in the evening. Instead, the event was tailored to suit the Union Home Minister’s convenience. Provisioning for lakhs of Appasaheb Dharmadhikari’s followers was woefully inadequate,” alleged Raut.
MNS chief Raj Thackeray, known for his affinity to the ruling BJP-Shinde government, too, criticised it by saying that Dharmadhikari ought to have been presented the award in the Raj Bhavan, thereby averting the tragedy. “There was no need to hold the programme in the morning and noon. If the programme had been held in the evening, the incident could have been avoided,” Thackeray said.
Meanwhile, Shinde camp Minister Uday Samant said while what happened was “extremely unfortunate,” no one ought to play politics over the deaths. “Every amenity, from blood banks to water bottles to first-aid kits, was provided and kept ready for the spectators.
“In fact, the government had been closely coordinating with Dharmadhikari’s followers ahead of the event for the past few days. CM Shinde had reviewed the programme preparations no less than four times. So, one should not play politics over the tragedy. Instead of coming to give succour to patients, some leaders are keen on pointing the alleged mistakes of the government,” said Samant. He said the 18 people still undergoing treatment at various hospitals were in stable condition.
Meanwhile, Appasaheb Dharmadhikari, who received the award, while on Monday expressed grief over the death of 13 people after the Navi Mumbai ceremony, said the incident should not be politicised.
“The death of people due to sunstroke is painful for me. I feel like having lost someone from my family. I expect this incident should not be politicised in any way,” Dharmadhikari said in a press statement. “I am personally pained to see some people who are like my family members losing their lives due to sunstroke. It is like a calamity in my family. We all are together in this tragedy. The incident is very unfortunate,” he said.
Dharmadhikari, 76, has a massive following in the state due to his tree plantation drives, blood donation and medical camps as well as de-addiction work in tribal areas conducted under the aegis of his organisation “Shree Sadasya.”