Hoshiarpur- Deputy Commissioner Ashika Jain informed that 7 people have died so far in the LPG explosion incident that took place in Mandiala village on the Hoshiarpur-Jalandhar road late on the night of August 22, while 13 people are undergoing treatment and 3 people have been discharged from the hospital after recovering.
The deceased include Sukhjit Singh, Balwant Rai, Dharminder Verma, Manjit Singh, Vijay, Jaswinder Kaur and Aradhana Verma, while the injured include Harbans Lal, Amarjit Kaur, Sukhjit Kaur, Jyoti, Gurmukh Singh, Harpreet Kaur, Kusum, Bhagwan Das, Sita, Ajay, Sanjay, Raghav and Pooja. Balwant Singh, Suman and Lali Verma have been discharged from the hospital.
The Deputy Commissioner said that orders for a magisterial inquiry into the incident have been issued and the Additional Deputy Commissioner has been appointed as the investigating officer, who has been directed to submit a report within 15 days. He said that in view of the recent incidents of gas theft in the district, a district-level committee has also been formed to ensure public safety and take strict action against the culprits.
This committee will be headed by the District Food and Supplies Controller and the Executive Engineer, Punjab Pollution Control Board will be the co-chairman, while the police department, Deputy Director Factories and the concerned BDPOs will be members.
This committee will ensure vigilance, regular inspection and prompt action against the culprits across the district and will also monitor the safety standards by the oil companies and their distributors. The committee has been directed to start work immediately and submit the first report within a maximum of five days.
Deputy Commissioner Ashika Jain said that apart from this, they have also formed a Vehicle Regulation Committee. This committee will work to check illegal parking of heavy vehicles, especially those carrying hazardous materials.
This committee will be headed by the SDM of the concerned area, with the Regional Transport Authority, Hoshiarpur as the co-chairman and representatives from the Police Department, SDO (Public Works Department-National Highways) of the concerned area and BDPO/EO of the Nagar Parishad as members.
This committee will identify sensitive locations and take action under the Motor Vehicles Act 1988, designate and notify safe parking areas for such vehicles and coordinate with local bodies to eliminate illegal parking.
He said that the district administration has also formed a relief committee under the chairmanship of SDM Hoshiarpur, while its members will be the Executive Engineer (PWD B&R), Executive Engineer (PPCB), District Development and Panchayat Officer and Superintendent MA Branch.
The main responsibility of the committee is to ensure immediate relief arrangements to all affected individuals and families as per the rules and guidelines of the government, distribute financial assistance, material relief and medical assistance in a fair and transparent manner and provide relief benefits by immediately verifying the necessary documents of the affected.
Apart from this, the committee will have to ensure that the affected families get timely assistance and essential items by establishing proper coordination with all the concerned departments. The committee has been directed to maintain complete transparency and accountability in the relief work so that no eligible victim or family is deprived of relief benefits and a detailed compliance report in this regard should be submitted within five days.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Ashika Jain today reached Mandiala along with SSP Sandeep Kumar Malik and SDM Hoshiarpur Gursimranjit Kaur and met the affected families and assured them that the district administration is working seriously to provide complete justice and adequate compensation to every family affected by the accident.
He said that cases related to compensation for the deceased and seriously injured are being sent on priority basis and officials have been directed to work with utmost speed in assessing the damage.