Former Kollam City Police Commissioner P. Prakash testified on Saturday before the Justice P.S. Gopinathan Commission probing the Puttingal fireworks tragedy by submitting that if the Revenue Department authorities and the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) had acted responsibly the tragedy could have been averted.
Mr. Prakash based this contention on the directives issued by the Union government under the Explosives Rules 2008 after the Puttingal accident and the standard operative procedure (SOP) issued by the State government for safety in religious gatherings. In the competitive fireworks display tragedy on April 10, 2016, 111 persons were killed.
Mr. Prakash, who was police commissioner of Kollam city then, submitted that shortly before the commencement of the fireworks display at the Puttingal Devi temple, the temple committee authorities had thanked the district administration over mike for granting permission for the fireworks display.
“The then Kollam tahsildar, present at the spot and responsible for verifying the permit, did not respond to the announcement though the Circle Inspector had asked for a written order granting permit. The police did not use force to stop the fireworks display because the crowd was huge, in a festival frenzy, and use of force could have resulted in violence. The crowd included a large number of women, children, and aged persons.”
He told the commission that as per the provisions of the SOP “the police were responsible only for the management of government notified festivals and the Puttingal temple festival was not a notified festival.” Therefore that responsibility vested with the Revenue Department and the DDMA. Mr. Prakash submitted that the Act or Rules did not mandate a report from the police to the district administration for issuing the permit to hold fireworks display in connection with festivals. The district magistrate was vested with discretionary powers to grant or refuse permission without any police report.
As per the Union government notification, the district magistrate was responsible for issuing fireworks permits. He told the panel that attempts from some sections to hold the police responsible for the tragedy went against the spirit of the directives.