The Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the State Home Department to fix the responsibility in the Rajkot fire incident that claimed 27 lives, has handed over it’s report to the government. The report implicates negligence and dereliction of duty by concerned departments, including the fire department. However, the role of high-ranking officials is still under investigation.
27 people lost their lives in the Rajkot TRP Game Zone fire, last month. Four IAS and one IPS officer were questioned during the investigation. The investigation found that there was general negligence towards the decided set of rules and flaunting of norms without having much concern for the probability of a disaster such as the one that took
The investigation revealed the gross negligence of the employees of the city’s fire department, town planning department, and several branches of the police department, including the licence branch and the roads and buildings department. The government has said that it is determined to take action against all those responsible, including high-ranking officials such as IAS and IPS officers. The investigation is still ongoing to verify the responsibility of those on top of the departmental hierarchy.
The SIT report documented that the civic departments responsible for monitoring, such as the Town Planning Department and Fire Department, have taken no action against the game zone, which went on functioning unhindered for three long years, with all it’s irregularities and illegalities in the face of rules framed.
The city officials, either due to incompetence or for reasons best known to them, turned a constant blind eye to the commercial activity on the land intended for residential purposes. The Rajkot Municipal Corporation’s Town Planning Officer and Engineer did not take any action even after serving a notice, indicating foul play. The fire department did not fare better either. The fire officials did not pay even a single visit to the building, which they are mandated to monitor.
The report was supposed to be handed over on June 20, but it was delayed as the work was incomplete. The process of recording statements went on till late last night. It may be mentioned here that when the High Court heard the Suo Moto petition on May 27, the state government said that the report of the SIT would be submitted within 72 hours. After submitting a preliminary report, the final report is submitted after 28 days of the incident.
