Mangalore, Apr 13: As the death toll in the Perne tanker inferno rose to nine, the district unit of AHINDA, a federation of minorities, backward classes and Dalits, demanded immediate compensation for injured persons and affected families, along with kin of victims in the tragedy which took place on Tuesday.
Addressing mediapersons here on Friday, president of AHINDA Lolaksha said that the catastrophic incident raised many questions on the safety and security of gas tankers plying on highways every day, which needed to be seriously debated upon. When the tragedy occurred, the officials of district administration and the company failed to reach the spot on time. “The authorities of HPCL reached the spot at 2.30 p.m. Even three days after the explosion and leakage of gas, the tanker still continues to lie at the scene of tragedy. It is believed that certain amount of LPG is still inside the tanker. It is dangerous and poses threat to all the residents living nearby, and ought to be cleared by the authorities immediately to avoid further mishaps,” he cautioned.
Further speaking on the consequences of such tragedies, he said that one could not hold only the driver of the tanker responsible for the inferno. The company and its authorities should also be held accountable for criminal liability, adding that action should be taken against HPCL for lapses in safety and security measures.
“Although the district administration has announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to each of the victims' families, none of it has reached them yet, which indicates the insensitivity of the system. It is an extremely sad situation,” he said, urging the district administration to release the announced compensation by Friday evening, failing which the organisation would resort to halting tankers along the highway.
Among other demands, the organisation also called for an amount of Rs 25 lakh to be released by the government to the deceased and Rs 10 lakh to the injured and affected families in the inferno, apart from the insurance money to be given by the oil company to compensate for the loss.
Honorary president Vasudev Boloor, and other members of the organisation Stanley D'Costa, Satish Baikampady, Bhaskar Baikampady, Purushottam Kuppepadavu and Savita were present.
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