Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, his son Aditya Thackeray and NCP leader Ajit Pawar visited the MGM Kamothe Hospital in Navi Mumbai during the wee hours of Monday to take stock of the situation after 11 patients died due to heatstroke at the Maharashtra Bhushan Award ceremony. Stating that the event was “not planned properly”, Uddhav Thackeray asked, “Who will investigate the incident?”
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“We have met the people who are undergoing treatment. I interacted with four to five patients. Two of them were in critical condition,” Thackeray told the media.
Meanwhile, NCP’s Ajit Pawar urged for a probe into the incident. “We saw that one patient is on the ventilator and his condition is serious. The rest of them spoke to us…This is a very serious incident. There must be a probe into this,” he said while speaking to the media.
The award ceremony was held in a large open ground at Navi Mumbai’s Kharghar between 11.30 am to 1.30 pm on Sunday to felicitate social worker Dattatreya Narayan Dharmadhikari – also known as Appasaheb Dharmadhikari. Reportedly, lakhs of his followers attended the event under peak sun during peak daytime – after which around 125 people started complaining of exhaustion, and chest pain.
Earlier in the aftermath of the incident, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde announced ₹five lakh ex-gratia for the families of the deceased, and said the entire medical expenses will be borne by the state government for those undergoing treatment.
Terming the incident as ‘very unfortunate’, Shinde said, “Lakhs of people had come for the event and it went well. It is painful to see some of them suffer.”
Meanwhile, Shinde’s deputy Devendra Fadnavis tweeted: “It is very unfortunate and painful that some members participating in the Maharashtra Bhushan award ceremony this morning died due to heatstroke. I offer my heartfelt tributes to these seekers. We share in the grief of their families.”
(With inputs from agencies)
