Kharghar tragedy report likely to be tabled in Winter Session: Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar

Ten women and four men died due to heatstroke during the Maharashtra Bhushan Award ceremony held at an open ground in the Kharghar area in April.

Maharashtra’s Cultural Affairs and Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar (Photo: X/@SMungantiwar)

Maharashtra’s Cultural Affairs and Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said on Friday that a report from the committee appointed to look into the deaths of 14 people due to heatstroke at a Maharashtra Bhushan function at Kharghar in Navi Mumbai could be tabled in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly during the Winter Session. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had attended the event in April this year.

“The report could be tabled in the House during the ongoing session. There is nothing controversial about the timing of the programme because the meteorological department had predicted a temperature of 34 degrees Celsius and there was no information about the heat wave,” Mungantiwar said.

The Maharashtra government conferred the Maharashtra Bhushan Award – the highest civilian award given by the state government to a citizen – to social worker Appasaheb Dharmadhikari. Ten women and four men died after suffering sunstroke during the award ceremony, which was held on an open ground in the Kharghar area of Raigad district.

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“It is true that the cultural affairs ministry had organised the event near Mumbai. However, the timing was decided as per their (Dharmadhikari’s) availability. They told us their followers can come the night before for the event,” he said.

Following the deaths, Opposition parties had slammed the Eknath Shinde-led state government, accused it of mismanagement and demanded an inquiry. A one-member committee comprising Additional Chief Secretary Nitin Kareer was appointed to submit a report. The committee has submitted its report but it is yet to be made public and it can only be done after it is presented in the legislature, which is likely in the last week of the Winter Session.

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