Karnataka CM suspends 3 officials in cracker unit fire case
According to officials, Anekal Tehsildar, a police inspector and a regional fire office have been suspended.
Bengaluru

The state government has ordered the suspension of three officials on Tuesday in connection with the fire that engulfed a cracker godown-cum- shop in Attibele near Bengaluru and killed 14 people.
The decision was taken after chief minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar held a high-level meeting on Tuesday with senior officials at the chief minister’s home office Krishna in the state capital.
According to officials, Anekal Tehsildar, a police inspector and a regional fire office have been suspended.
The chief minister also said notices have been issued to the deputy commissioner of Bengaluru Urban district who issued the licence to the cracker shop owner as well as the superintendent of police,seeking explanation about the incident that also left three people critically injured.
“The shop owner had a licence only to sell crackers but he was storing crackers in the godown. To get a licence, tehsildar has to approve it, the local inspector and the chief fire officer have to give NOC and then the deputy commissioner issues a licence under the Explosives Act. All the deceased were students and were working as daily wage labourers. There are lapses and we have decided to suspend Tehsildar, police inspector and chief fire officer,” Siddaramaiah said.
The chief minister said he has given direction to all the officers concerned to ensure that the provisions of the Explosives Act and the Supreme Court guidelines on use of green crackers are not violated. “Action should be taken against those who are not following them.”
Siddaramaiah also instructed officials to check the safety of all the shops in Attibele. Henceforth, district commissioners, superintendents of police and fire brigade officers should conduct site inspections while issuing licences, he said.
“All over the state, inspection should be conducted and action should be taken against all the godowns and shops that do not take safety measures and their license should be cancelled,” he said.
The chief minister said that the Diwali festival is fast approaching, and recalled accidents he has come across of people losing eyesight, some getting injuries and in rare cases, deaths and asked the officials concerned to strictly follow the orders.
Shivakumar said, “Only green firecrackers will be allowed instead of dangerous firecrackers at political conventions, weddings and auspicious ceremonies.”
Directing officials to strictly follow the guidelines before issuing licenses, the deputy chief minister said, “Fireworks shop and stock license issued for five years will now be issued for one year only. If the authorities have issued licenses in violation of these earlier laws, such authorities will be suspended, notices will be issued to the higher authorities who do not check.”
Shivakumar said that there should be vacant space around the shop selling firecrackers among other factors that will be looked into at the time of renewal of license as well. “There are more accidents due to other firecrackers, as well as damage to the environment and trouble to the public, so it has been decided to use green firecrackers,” he added.
Fourteen people died in the fire incident at a firecracker shop in Attibele on Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border. While 12 people were charred to death on the spot in the fire that broke out on October 7, two others died while undergoing treatment on October 8.
The fire took place at Shree Balaji Traders, a firecracker shop-cum-godown, when crackers were being unloaded from a vehicle into the godown, police officers said, adding that the firecrackers had been transported from Sivakasi, fireworks hub of Tamil Nadu, ahead of Deepavali.
The police have arrested three people in connection with the fire including V Ramaswamy Reddy, the licensee, Anil Reddy, the owner of the land where the godown was built at Attibele, and Ramaswamy Reddy’s son, Naveen Reddy, who has been hospitalised after suffering severe burns, is the third accused.

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