PM's visit to Kollam, a big relief: Chandy

Thiruvananthapuram, April 15: The Prime Minister's visit to the Kollam temple site where a firework accident took place just a few days ago has been received graciously by chief minister Oommen Chandy.

Despite the police supremo criticizing the visit at a time when the rescue operations were going on and when the forces were tired, Chandy said that Modi's visit at the site was a big relief.

Chandy said, " The PM came... that is great for people. A national leader came to Kerala and that was a big relief for Kerala people." He further added, "Their preference and help is great for Kerala. We all focus on giving the best treatment to injured people."

Just a few hours after the deadly incident claimed the lives of 100 people, PM Narendra Modi visited the site with 15 specialists from Delhi.

However, Kerala's Director General of Police TP said,"I did object to the idea of the Prime Minister visiting the region within 12 hours of the accident. I told them it would be better for the PM to visit the spot a day after the disaster. But the PM wanted to visit that day itself. Our entire force had been working from early morning, engaged in rescue and relief work. So much work was still left and all of them were tired because there was no provision of even drinking water. We had to make arrangements for the safety and security of Prime Minister Modi and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi too."

Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy came to Modi's defence and said, "Fortunately, we have the PM who takes the call. He could have visited early in the morning, but he waited till evening, he waited for the rescue operations to be over."

Close to 100 were killed and over 1000 injured after a spark ignited fireworks stored in a shed during the firework display in the temple premises. Supported by local politicians, the temple authorities had backed the display despite warnings from the authorities.

OneIndia News