NT Reporter| Panaji
In Goa’s worst tragedy involving a hospitality establishment, a jampacked nightclub Birch by Romeo Lane turned into a death trap Saturday midnight as a massive fire tore through it, claiming 25 lives and bringing to the fore illegalities, along with the laxity of government officials
in enforcing rules.
Following the tragedy, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant Sunday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the procedural lapses that resulted in the mishap. The inquiry will
be carried out by a committee headed by the North Goa District Magistrate. The committee, which has been asked to submit its report within seven days, comprises SP (South), Deputy Director (Fire and Emergency Services) and Director (Forensics).
Stating that four persons have been arrested and inquiry is in progress, the Chief Minister said, “An arrest warrant
has been issued against the club owners and our team has left for Delhi
to arrest them.”
Sawant also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured, to be sanctioned through the State Disaster Response
Fund (SDRF).
The Chief Minister convened an urgent high-level meeting with Chief Secretary, Director General of Police, Inspector General of Police, Secretary (Revenue), Collector (North) and SP (North) to discuss
the incident.
Sawant said the DGP has been directed to take strict punitive action against the culprits, including the owners and managers of the club and those who issued permissions to the club.
Sawant said an audit would be conducted of all the clubs and business establishments that are operating without the valid permissions and where there is likelihood of people gathering in large numbers. “This would be done through a committee, which shall be constituted under the chairmanship of Secretary (Revenue). A standard operating procedure (SOP) shall be framed by this committee for all such establishments to ensure that such an incident is not repeated in the future,” the Chief Minister said.
He said the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) will issue an advisory to all clubs, restaurants and other commercial establishments in the state where there is a likelihood of significant footfall, to ensure that they operate with valid permissions and adequate safety provisions.
Sawant also said that he has directed the chief secretary and DGP to take disciplinary action against the erring officers. “This is a major incident in the tourism sector. I will monitor at my personal level and ensure that the culprits are arrested,” he said.
Meanwhile, authorities released the full list of the 25 victims who died in the nightclub blaze. The victims comprise 20 staff members and five tourists. The deceased tourists include Ishaq from Karnataka, and Saroj Joshi, Vinod Kumar, Anita Joshi and Kamla Joshi from Delhi. The other victims, who were primarily the staff of the club, have been identified as Mohit, Pradeep Mahto and Binod Mahto (all from Jharkhand), Rahul Tanti and Manojit Mal (from Assam), Satish Singh, Surender Singh, Jitendra Singh, Sumit Negi and Manish Singh (all from Uttarakhand), Subhash Chetri (from Darjeeling, West Bengal), Vivek Katwal, Sabin, Churna Bahadur Pun and Sudeep (all from Nepal), Sunil Kumar and Rohan Singh (from Uttar Pradesh), Dominic and Manoj Jora (from Maharashtra) and Digambar Patir (from Assam).
