Death in the time of the Rally

VADODARA, Aug 4: Even as the Rally for the Valley overrode all other concerns for the Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh administration, one Mang...

VADODARA, Aug 4: Even as the Rally for the Valley overrode all other concerns for the Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh administration, one Mangalbhai, a middle-aged employee of the Public Health Engineering Department of the MP government, became a victim of administrative callousness on July 31.

He was eaten alive by crocodiles after he slipped and fell into the swollen Narmada at Hapheshwar, a point described as 8220;unsafe8221; several times in inter-State official correspondence, while on duty. Jhabua MP District Collector Wasim Akhtar admitted the incident in a conversation with Express Newsline on Wednesday.

Acknowledging that the State governments had been aware of the risks, he, however, said, 8220;Mangalbhai should not have gone into the river to carry out his assignment of surveying the area in the wake of the rally. Even I had visited the area, but I didn8217;t venture into the water.8221;

According to sources in the Secretariat, the Gujarat government and the district administration, the Madhya Pradesh government had been informed about the dangers at Hapheshwar 8212; a pilgrimage spot in Kwant taluka 8212; a number of times in the recent past; faxes had also been sent to the authorities at the MP8217;s border district of Jhabua.

One official message a copy of which is in the possession of Express Newsline said categorically, 8220;it is very unsafe as Hapheshwar8221;. Another, dated July 31, dismissed an MP proposal to send 8220;some people to Jalsindhi via Gujarat8230; as the MP route is unsafe8221; because 8220;it is not advisable even at Hapheshwar8221;.

Vadodara Rural District Superintendent of Police Vivek Shrivastava, who was present at a meeting of senior officials at Gandhinagar last week, told Express Newsline, 8220;I was instructed not to allow anyone around Hapheshwar. We had videographed crocodiles there during our last trip. But the MP employee was sent there anyway.8221;

But why couldn8217;t the Gujarat police prevent the mishap? 8220;No one knew about the exact whereabouts of MP officials. We have just 200 personnel and are supposed to keep an eye on the entire district8221;, said Shrivastava.

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Vadodara District Collector Anil Mukim, while expressing shock at the incident, said, 8220;I advised the Jhabua administration repeatedly about the hazards ever since the subject cropped up in the last week of July.8221;

While compensation for the deceased8217;s kin was under discussion, according to the Jhabua collector, it is likely to be of little consolation to Mangalbhai8217;s kin.