Close shave for Asom CM as pandal collapses

Guwahati, May 7 (UNI) A pandal, erected at a function which Asom Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi was to attend in his home district Jorhat, collapsed minutes before his arrival.

Official sources said the Chief Minister was to inaugurate Asom's third inter-state bus terminus, funded by the North East Council (NEC), at Tarajan in Jorhat of upper Asom at about 1330 hrs.

However, the pandal as well as the 10-feet high dais erected for the function was razed down by a mild storm, a couple of minutes before the Chief Minister and Transport Minister Chandan Brahma, were to arrive.

The programme was organised by the district administration and the purportedly weak pandal was made of bamboo and wood.

Coincidently, the Chief Minister had a sudden change of plan and attended another programme of the Jorhat Development Authority(JDA) at Barua Chariali of the town before coming to the function. Had he not gone to the JDA programme, Mr Gogoi would have been at the new bus terminus programme when the storm lashed the place, a police official said.

Mr Gogoi has directed the administration to inquire into the incident.

UNI