Opposition parties questions extension given to probe panel over Kharghar sunstroke deaths

The death of 14 people from sunstroke following an incident in Navi Mumbai's Kharghar in April of this year sparked outrage in the Maharashtra legislative assembly on Thursday, with the opposition parties targeting the Eknath Shinde-led government.

Leaders of the Congress as well as the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) questioned the government over the extension given to the probe committee to submit its report on the incident. Fourteen people died due to sunstroke after attending the ‘Maharashtra Bhushan’ award event in Kharghar area of Navi Mumbai on April 16.

The event was held in an open ground under the scorching summer sun and attended by several lakh people, most of them followers of social worker Appasaheb Dharmadhikari who was conferred with Maharashtra’s top civilian honour by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The committee set up by the state government to investigate the matter was given an extension of one month on July 13.

Referring to it, Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat said, The state government seems to be deliberately wasting time by giving such extensions. We want the state government to submit the report on the Kharghar tragedy before the house. NCP leader Jayant Patil said, Who was that wise person who ordered to hold the event at noon in the scorching heat of April? We want the person’s name to be mentioned here. The Kharghar event was organised by the Maharashtra government’s cultural affairs department.

Responding to the criticism, Cultural Affairs Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar accused the opposition of trying to politicise the issue. There is not a single complaint that came from any relative of the deceased persons about the organisation or venue, Mungantiwar said. IMD had forecast that the temperature there would be 34.1 degrees Celsius on April 14. However, the actual temperature on that day was 38 degrees Celsius, the minister said.

Mungantiwar later said, The committee chairman has asked for an extension to the state government. We did not ask them to delay it. The committee needs to go through all the details of the incident. They should be given time. Talking about past incidents, the minister said, Sharad Pawar was the state chief minister when lathi-charge on members of Gowari community led to the death of 114 people (in Nagpur).