'Ravana Dahan' has been taking place at accident site for over 20 years: Locals
Amritsar, Oct 20: For more than 20 years, people from adjoining villages would gather at the vacant plot at Joda Phatak, barely 50 metres from railway tracks, to witness the burning of Ravana effigy as part of Dussehra celebrations.
What has been a source of joy and excitement to the young and the old for over two decades turned out to be a nightmare on Friday, after at least 61 revellers who had spilled onto railway tracks were mowed down by a train.
Fifty-year-old Jaswant said that the Ravana effigy is burnt at this plot, while the Ramlila event was organised at a good distance from the railway tracks.
Jawant claimed that people did not hear horn of the train coming from Jalandhar as there were noise due to bursting of firecrackers.
Before the train going to Amritsar from Jalandhar that mowed down the revellers, two trains passed through the tracks, but they slowed down their speed, he claimed.
Locals said that the train tragedy took place around 7.10 pm on Friday when railway tracks were packed with people who were watching the burning of Ravana effigy.
"Ravana effigy is being burnt at this vacant plot for over 20 years, but no such incident has happened earlier," Balwikdar, another resident, said
At least 61 people were killed and 72 injured Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching burning of Ravana effigy was run over by a train near here, officials said.
The train was coming from Jalandhar when the accident occurred at Joda Phatak near Amritsar, where at least 300 people were watching 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
