Heatstroke at Maharashtra ceremony: 13 dead, 32 discharged

The death toll at the Maharashtra Bhushan award event on Sunday due to heat stroke has climbed to 13.

However, 12 people are still undergoing treatment at various hospitals and 35 were discharged on Monday, Raigad district informed on Monday.

The deceased were identified as Tulshiram Bhau Wagad, Jayshree Jagannath Patil, Mahesh Narayan Gaykar, Kalawati Siddram Vaychal, Manjusha Krishna Bhombde, Bhima Krishna Salvi, Savita Sanjay Pawar, Swapnil Sadashiv Keni, Pushpa Madan Gaykar, Vandana Jagannath Patil, Meenakshi Mohan Mistry, Gulab Baban Patil and Vinayak Haldankar, ANI reported.

The event was held in Navi Mumbai to present the Maharashtra Bhushan Award to social activist Dattatreya Narayan alias Appasaheb Dharmadhikari who was honoured with the award by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The event started at 11.30 pm and ended at 1 pm, according to a report.

A total of 123 people complained of heat-related health ailments, like dehydration during the event. They were immediately referred to the 30 medical booths set up at the venue. Thirteen of the patients, who needed further treatment, were shifted to different private hospitals.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Shinde announced Rs 5 lakh as compensation for the next-of-kin of the deceased, and the entire medical expense is being borne by the state government.

"Families of the victims will be given Rs 5 lakh each and we are ensuring proper treatment for those admitted in hospitals," Shinde said.

However, the opposition parties have slammed the Eknath Shinde government over the incident, saying that the award ceremony could have been planned better.

"We met the people who are undergoing treatment. I interacted with four to five patients. Two of them are in critical condition. The event was not planned properly. Who will investigate this incident?" Uddhav Thackeray said.

Criticising the Maharashtra government, Congress spokesperson Kanhaiya Kumar said, "We express condolences to the affected families and demand that the government take responsibility for it and take action in the matter."

He alleged that the government was giving crores of rupees to contractors to organise the event and did not arrange tents, shade, water and air conditioning for people. "The government is only concerned with photo opportunities. Our Congress unit has already stated that this is a matter of culpable homicide," Kumar said.

With inputs from agencies