Debris is seen at the site after a blast at an illegal firecracker factory in East Midnapore’s Egra. , Photo Credit: ANI
eleven days later There was a blast in an illegal firecracker factory in Khadikul village. After 11 people died in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the village on Saturday and apologized to the people for the incident.
“I bow my head before you and apologize for this incident,” the chief minister said. He distributed checks of ₹2.5 lakh as compensation to the family members of the deceased and promised that one member of each family would get a job as a home guard under the West Bengal Police.
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Ms. Banerjee said that officers in charge of local police stations should take action against illegal firecracker manufacturing units. If the police refused to act, he asked the local people to inform him so that he could take action. The Chief Minister said that after the incident, the in-charge of Egra police station has been transferred.
Speaking at a public meeting later in the day, Ms Banerjee said she had constituted a committee headed by the state’s chief secretary to develop the government’s policy on firecrackers.
A stage was set up in Khadikul village where the family members of the deceased gathered to listen to the Chief Minister. Most of the dead in the blast on 16 May were women who left behind young children. Ms. Banerjee said that the government will bear the cost of the education of these children.
Villagers allege that country bombs were being made in the guise of making firecrackers in the illegal unit. In the week between May 16 and May 23, a total of 16 people died in three separate blasts at three illegal firecracker units and godowns in the state. Krishnapada Bagh alias Bhanu Bagh is the main accused in the May 16 blast. also died from injuries sustained in the blast.
Ms. Banerjee stressed the need to secure the state’s borders. “We know that a large quantity of weapons are coming into the state from Jharkhand. Firecrackers made from here are taken to Odisha.
Opposition political parties raised questions about the Chief Minister’s apology and visit that came 11 days after the incident. “It is a fake apology. If the chief minister was moved by the plight of the victims, she should have gone earlier,” said Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
BJP leader and former West Bengal unit president Dilip Ghosh said that the Chief Minister is putting the blame on other states, whereas the fault actually lies with the West Bengal Police. “Everyone in the village knew what was going on and that the road to the illegal unit was on encroached land and was built by the local panchayat,” said Mr. Ghosh, who visited Kharikul village on May 18. Banerjee participated in the Trinamool Congress outreach program organized by the party’s general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.