Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that Petlawad-like incidents should not recur. For this, all concrete arrangements should be made.
Chouhan was reviewing relief works for Petlawad incident-affected people at Mantralaya here today. The meeting was informed that the next of kin of 71 deceased persons have been provided relief worth Rs3.55 crore. A sum of Rs5 lakh each has been deposited in the bank accounts of the deceased persons' kin.
The Chief Minister said that a memorial will be built at Petlawad to perpetuate the memory of the deceased. This will also help in increasing mass awareness about such incidents. Proposals to relax rules needed in the matter of some eligible persons and families should be sent to the government immediately. He said that rules to maintain stock of explosives should be implemented strictly. If needed, process should be undertaken to frame new rules. Persons affected by the incident should be provided all possible assistance.
Chouhan said that rehabilitation of the injured persons should be considered right now so that work in this direction can be started as soon as they recover. He said that apart from additional economic assistance to those who suffered permanent disability, cooperation should also be extended to provide livelihood to them as per their physical ability. He underscored the need for regular review of treatment of patients. He said that if additional amount is needed for treatment, it should be made available immediately.
He said that the accused in the incident must be tracked down.
Divisional Commissioner Sanjay Dube informed that all announcements of the Chief Minister have been implemented in letter and spirit. Under 21 schemes of the government, affected persons have been provided economic, livelihood and social security. Process is on in only 4 cases of dispute over legal heir. The Chief Minister directed to solve these cases at the earliest on humanitarian ground.
The meeting was informed that a total Rs 36.50 lakh at the rate of Rs50,000 per head has been deposited in the bank accounts of 73 persons injured in the incident. Necessary amount has been provided to 36 private hospitals for treatment of the injured. In all, 71 of the 75 deceased have been identified while identification of 4 deceased is yet to be made.
In-charge of Jhabua district labour Minister Antar Singh Arya, Chief Secretary Anthony DeSa, Principal Secretary to CM Iqbal Singh Bains, Principal Secretary Women and Child Development JN Kansotiya, Additional DGP Sarabjeet Singh, OSD to CM Rajiv Tandon, Secretary to CM Vivek Agrawal, IG Indore Range Vipin Kumar Maheshwari and other senior officers attended the meeting.