Kharghar incident a natural disaster like building collapse: Mungantiwar

Mumbai: Terming the recent Kharghar tragedy as a ‘natural calamity like a building collapse in Mumbai’, cultural affairs minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said that nobody holds the state government or the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) responsible for the 14 deaths during the recent Maharashtra Bhushan award ceremony

Mumbai: Terming the recent Kharghar tragedy as a ‘natural calamity like a building collapse in Mumbai’, cultural affairs minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said that nobody holds the state government or the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) responsible for the 14 deaths during the recent Maharashtra Bhushan award ceremony.

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Mungantiwar said that though the attendees of the award ceremony had access to water, they were so mesmerised by the presence of Appasaheb Dharmadhikari, awardee, on the stage that they could not get up to drink water.

It was the Mungantiwar-led cultural affairs department that had organised the event held at Corporate Park in Kharghar, Raigad district, on April 16. However, Mungantiwar claimed that it was not just the state government, but the awardee’s Nanasaheb Dharmadhikari Pratisthan also had a role in organising the event.

Mungantiwar said, “It (Kharghar incident) was like a building collapse in Mumbai and we do not hold the BMC responsible for it. We had ensured everything was in place while arranging the event and had even printed a booklet of 60 pages to cover all aspects of the ceremony. A committee, under a senior IAS officer, will probe the matter, and a standard operating procedure will be formulated for such events in the future,” he said.

Claiming that the government had been meticulous in arranging the event, Mungantiwar said, “There were 75 ambulances deployed, 300 tap connections were arranged to ensure water supply. Chief minister Eknath Shinde had taken stock of preparations four times before the event. But we could not have imagined that the temperature would rise tremendously,” said Mugantiwar.

“The people attending the event had access to water, but they were disciplined and mesmerised by the presence of their mentor Dharmadhikari on the stage and because of that they could not get up to drink water,” said Mungantiwar.

“Dharmadhikari (Maharashtra Bhushan awardee) has done so much social work in various sectors including environment and tree planting. He is a magnetic personality and that is the reason why the attendees did not get up for water,” Mungantiwar said while talking to Marathi news channel ABP Majha in Karnataka.

Mungantiwar said some political leaders have been politicising the issue. Referring to a fake letter, which claimed that Dharmadhikari was returning the award and had claimed responsibility for the deaths, Mungantiwar said, “We must find out who circulated the fake letter with the signature of the awardee. It is being probed by the police and the facts will come to the fore.

“There is a public interest litigation pending in the court on the issue and we are happy that through it, there could be deliberation on the incident.”