'Troubles' for repatriates on arrival: Dakshina Kannada DC writes to airport director
Mangaluru: Some passengers who arrived here on board the first repatriation flight from Dubai two days ago have complained about 'lack' of proper arrangements for handling the returnees,prompting the Dakshina Kannada district administration to take up the matter with airport authorities.
Referring to the inadequacies flagged by the repatriates, district Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh has written to Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) Director V V Rao, urging him to personally oversee arrangements when passengers arrive in next special flights, official sources said on Thursday.
Some of the passengers, who arrived by the Air India Express flight, later said the airport did not have sufficient staff to handle the repatriates, who included pregnant women and those who required medical support.
Also, the procedures at the airport took a long time and the staff did not properly brief the returnees, they had alleged.
In his letter, the DC referred to the inadequacies and said she had issued prior directions to the airport authorities to extend support to the passengers.
She requested the airport director to personally oversee the arrangements during the next flight to make sure that such incidents do not recur and help the district administration in coordinating with airport authorities and the airlines bringing the passengers.
The first repatriation flight to Mangaluru from Dubai landed at the MIA late Tuesday night with 177 passengers, who included 38 pregnant women and 12 medical emergency cases.
All the foreign returnees were screened as per the standard operating procedure to ensure they were asymptomatic for COVID-19 and then taken to their chosen place of accommodation in KSRTC buses for 14 days quarantine.
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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.
