U’khand CM orders magisterial probe into mishap
Tuesday, 07 June 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
The chief minister of Uttarakhand Pushkar Singh Dhami and his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday visited Rikhau-Khadh at Damta, the site of June 5 bus accident which killed 26 pilgrims in Uttarkashi district. The duo expressed deep grief on the loss of lives in the accident and interacted with the relatives of the deceased who were travelling in another bus along with the ill-fated vehicle.
The Madhya Pradesh CM said that he was in constant touch with the Uttarakhand government after receiving the shocking news of the accident. He said that on the orders of Uttarakhand CM the district administration had immediately started the search and rescue operation. The bodies of pilgrims were taken out from the deep gorge by the administration and locals in the night and the post-mortem were performed promptly. He said that the bodies of the deceased have been sent to Dehradun airport from where they would be taken by army helicopter to Khajuraho in MP and from there the bodies would be sent to the homes of the bereaved families.
The Uttarakhand CM has ordered magisterial inquiry of the road accident. He said that the State government has taken measures like registration for a safe journey for the Char Dham pilgrims but is very unfortunate that the accident occured despite all these measures. Dhami said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken cognisance of the accident and the MP CM was in constant touch after the accident. He said that the district administration, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and police started rescue operation swiftly after the accident. The State government is now trying to ensure that the bodies of the dead pilgrims reach their home at the earliest.
In a tragic incident a mini bus carrying pilgrims from MP to Yamunotri fell into a deep gorge near Damta on Sunday evening. In the accident 26 pilgrims died while four were injured. All the four ( 2 males, 2 females) injured were admitted in the Max hospital, Dehradun. On Monday the hospital authorities said that the injured have sustained multiple injuries and they are undergoing treatment under a multidisciplinary team of specialists in the critical care unit of the hospital. An ex- gratia payment of Rs two lakh to the families of deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured has been announced from the PM relief fund while the MP government would give Rs five lakh to the relatives of dead and Rs 50,000 to injured. The Uttarakhand government has also announced a sum of Rs one lakh to the family members of the dead and Rs 50,000 to the injured.
Garhwal commissioner Sushil Kumar, the police deputy inspector general KS Nagnyal, district magistrate of Uttarkashi Abhishek Rohella, Tehri DM Iva Srivastava, Purola MLA Durgeshwar Lal and others were also present during the visit of the CMs.
