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Kerala seeks Rs1.17b for Puttingal victims

Trivandrum - The explosion sparked by a stray cracker has left a massive trail of destruction in and around the coastal town.

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The Kerala government has urged the federal government to declare the Puttingal temple firework tragedy in Kollam district as a national calamity and provide Rs1.17 billion to mitigate the destruction caused by it.
State revenue secretary Vishwas Mehtha submitted a memorandum in this regard to the government in New Delhi on Monday. During his visit to the state on the day of the accident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised all assistance to the state government for rehabilitating the victims.
The memorandum was prepared on the basis of the assessment of the damages made by the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA). The explosion sparked by a stray cracker has left a massive trail of destruction in and around the coastal town.
While 107 people have lost their lives, most of the 1,099 people who suffered injuries of various degrees in the fire may not be able to return to normal life. As many as 411 people are still undergoing treatment in various hospitals.

> 107 people lost their lives.> 1,099 people who suffered injuries of various degrees in the fire may not be able to return to normal life. > 411 people are still undergoing treatment. > 1,993 houses and 200 open wells damaged.

The assessment by the SDMA showed that many will have to live the rest of their lives with permanent and partial disabilities. A large number of the survivors will require prolonged treatment, including psycho-social care. The agency has proposed a long-term rehabilitation plan.
Apart from the harm caused to human being, the devastating explosion has also left 1,993 houses and 200 open wells damaged. The accident also led to the disruption of the entire power supply network in the area. It also affected crops across 343 hectares of land.
Expert say the affected areas will require long-term decontamination measures to remove heavy metal and toxic substances from the soil and water. The preliminary estimates have put the total loss caused by the explosion at Rs1.18 billion.
In view of these, the state government has requested the federal government to consider the tragedy as the "rarest of rare" and extend maximum assistance. The memorandum pointed out that the Puttingal accident was the single largest tragedy after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in terms of human casualty.
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