West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday apologised to the people of Egra area in Purba Medinipur district of the state for a blast at an illegal firecracker factory here, in which 12 people were killed and many injured.
The Trinamool Congress supremo, who reached Khadikul village in this area, 11 days after the blast, also said the incident could have been averted if the state had received proper intelligence inputs.
“I will bow my head down to you and apologise for the incident (blast at the illegal fire factory on May 16)… Had intelligence worked properly then this blast could have been averted,” Banerjee said after distributing compensation cheques of Rs 2.5 lakh each to relatives of those killed and Rs 1 lakh to every person injured, in the blast.
She also handed over appointment letters for jobs as home guards to one member each from the family of those killed in the May 16 blast.
Stating that two members from the family which owned the illegal factory, have been arrested, Banerjee urged the villagers to keep the local police informed in case they find any other illegal fireworks units operational.
She also said she had been trying to visit Khadikul since the day of the blast, but could not because of bad weather, Banerjee said, “We remained in touch with the people here. I could not come because of the bad weather. Today, I have come here to be with you, not to do politics.”
” Our police had arrested the principal accused from a hospital in Cuttack where he had taken admission using a fake name. But unfortunately, he passed away before revealing anything,” she added.
The Bengal CM was accompanied by state chief secretary H K Dwivedi.
Banerjee, who is also the police minister of West Bengal, said that the chief of Egra police station was “changed because he had not taken any action even after learning about the illegal firecracker factory”.
The Bengal CM urged locals to keep a watch on the borders of the state alleging that arms were being smuggled into the state from Jharkhand and illegal firecrackers were also manufactured here and then sent to neighbouring Odisha.
The blast, Banerjee claimed, has “opened the eyes” of the state government which has decided to set up clusters for firecrackers where only green crackers would be manufactured.
“This incident has opened our eyes. I will get a report from the committee under the Chief Secretary in two months. We are planning to set up firework factory clusters. Owners have to set up clusters for green crackers and not firecrackers. These clusters will be set up away from residential areas,” she said.
The Trinamool Congress supremo’s visit to Egra assumes significance as three back-to-back explosions linked to illegal firecracker factories have taken place this month, ahead of panchayat elections. The dates for the village body elections, however, are yet to be announced.
After the blast at Egra occurred on May 16, three members of a family were killed in an explosion at an illegal firecracker unit in South 24 Parganas district’s Budge Budge on May 21.
The Calcutta High court had last week refused to hand over the blast case to the NIA as sought by the leader of the opposition and had asked state CID to continue with the probe.
