Amritsar Train Accident: 25 of 29 Dussehra events, including the tragic Joda Phatak incident did not have a clearance

The train tragedy in Amritsar during Dussehra which took around 60 lives and injured another 50 has now seen another development which is being seen as a shocking lapse because out of 29 events, 25 including the Dhobi Ghat were not given the permission.

The municipal corporation officials have told The Indian Express that it never gave the permission to celebrate the Dussehra events which were taking place across the city and especially, the one near Joda Phatak where the incident took place.

“Amritsar has a police Commissionerate system and the police are supposed to give all the permissions. The police commissioner even has the right to impose Section 144. In the absence of a commissionerate system, the responsibility is with the civil administration. Even arms licenses are issued by the police commissioner and not the DC. So, we had no role in giving permissions for the Dhobi Ghat event or any Dussehra event,” Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Kamaldeep Singh Sangha was quoted as saying by IE.

The blame game over the accident had begun as the officials later on said that the municipal corporation never gave them a go ahead for the event, but the police gave them a no-objection certificate, saying they would abide by the rules and regulations laid down by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, where in they will ban loudspeakers and arms at such functions.

The careless attitude was even portrayed by the organisers when a video was released by the head of the organizer, saying he alerted the people present on tracks several times before the accident.

Also read: Supreme Court refuses ban on sale of firecrackers; bans e-commerce websites from selling crackers