Opposition Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) members on Monday disrupted governor Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju’s address on the first day of the Goa assembly’s winter session over the fire at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub that claimed 25 lives last month.
Safety lapses, including an inadequate number of exits, a thatched roof, and stacks of alcohol, intensified the fire that ripped through the nightclub in the coastal village of Arpora. On December 16, Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, the owners of the club, were arrested at Delhi airport after being deported from Thailand, where they fled after the fire.
Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao blamed the state government for the tragedy. “It was our request to the governor that he should speak on Birch and on corruption,” he said. “This was not a natural disaster [but] a man-made tragedy...there is blood on the hands of this government. Political accountability needs to be fixed. Who is responsible for these 25 deaths? Some people have been made the scapegoats,” he said, referring to the termination of a panchayat secretary’s services and the disqualification of a sarpanch for allegedly allowing the Birch by Romeo Lane to operate illegally.
Alemao questioned what the environment ministry was doing. “What was the panchayat ministry doing? What was the home ministry doing? What is the guarantee that this kind of tragedy would not happen again?” Alemao said.
{{/usCountry}}Alemao questioned what the environment ministry was doing. “What was the panchayat ministry doing? What was the home ministry doing? What is the guarantee that this kind of tragedy would not happen again?” Alemao said.
{{/usCountry}}In his speech, Raju extended his “deepest condolences” to the families of those killed in the stampede at the Lairai Devi Jatra in Shirgao, the Arpora fire incident, and road accidents. He made no other mention of the stampede and the fire even as the assembly observed a minute’s silence.
Chief minister Pramod Sawant said that the Opposition was reacting even before the governor could speak. “He has mentioned in his speech everything, the good and the bad. Out of respect to the governor, they should have first heard the speech before complaining that he has not said this and that. How did they know what he was going to say in his speech? It is not right what they did,” Sawant said.
The Congress, AAP, and other opposition members left before Raju could commence his speech. They were escorted out as they continued to protest as Raju began his address.