Officials suspended after tragic fire in Rajkot Game Zone

The Gujarat state government on Monday ordered the suspension of seven officials in connection with the Rajkot wildlife fire that killed 27 people.

The officials were accused of “gross negligence by allowing the gaming zone to operate without the necessary permits,” a government statement said.

Earlier, Rajkot Municipal Corporation’s deputy town planning department engineer Jaideep Chaudhary, RMC deputy town planner Gautam Joshi, Rajkot roads and buildings department deputy chief engineers MR Suma and Paras Kothiya and police inspectors VR Patel and NI Rathod were suspended as per orders issued by the respective departments.

The RMC later ordered the suspension of Rohit Vigora, the station manager of the RMC’s Kalavad Road fire station.

Although the recreational facility was operating for a prolonged period without an NOC for the fire brigade, Vigora as the station manager showed gross negligence and irresponsible conduct by not taking action against the gaming zone which was under his jurisdiction, the RMC said in the suspension order.

The Supreme Court of the state of Gujarat took cognizance of the fire tragedy on Sunday and described it at first glance as a “man-made disaster”.

The HC found that a stockpile of highly flammable materials such as petrol, fibres and fibreglass sheets was stored at the facility.

The state government has formed a special investigation team and promised an ex gratia donation of Rs 400,000 to the families of all the deceased.

The Central Government has also announced that it will provide a gratia of Rs 200,000 to the next of kin of every deceased person.

(This story has not been edited by the Devdiscourse team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)