11 die in Ahmednagar fire: Weekly wrap

Last week was a week of festivities, lights and crackers. Mumbai and I suppose the rest of Maharashtra, like other parts of our country, indulged in the five-day festival of Deepawali with an enthusiasm which they had been suppressing for two years, due to regulations in the wake of Covid-19.

But Saturday brought a tragic news of fire and death from Ahmednagar.

Eleven patients die when fire broke out in Ahmednagar district civil hospital

A massive fire broke out on Saturday at the district hospital in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar, which is located 120 km from Pune. As per reports, the fire broke out in the ICU where 20 Covid-19 patients, many of them senior citizens, were undergoing treatment. The blaze erupted around 11 am and the fire was doused around 1.30 pm. The remaining patients were shifted to another hospital. Chief Fire Officer Shankar Misal said that a short circuit was suspected to be the cause of fire though it was yet to be confirmed.

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the deceased while Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat announced an additional aid of Rs 2 lakh.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thakarey expressed grief over the tragedy and sought stern action against those responsible the negligence. He directed District Collector Rajendra Bhosale to conduct a probe and submit a report. The Collector has said that a probe committee headed by Mr. Misal would look into what led to the tragedy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari also expressed their anguish and condolences to the bereaved families.

Sanjay Kumar Singh to lead NCB’s cruise drugs investigation
 
A special investigation team (SIT) of the Narcotics Control Bureau, supervised by Sanjay Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General of the NCB headquarters in New Delhi, has taken over the case of seizure of drugs from a few passengers on a cruise ship in Mumbai. The team flew in from Delhi and visited the NCB’s zonal office in south Mumbai on Saturday afternoon.

The NCB had arrested Aryan Khan and at least 19 others in the drugs on cruise case and zonal director Sameer Wankhede has been facing a departmental probe. An official said that Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe allegations of extortion against NCB officials in connection with cruise drugs case will return to Mumbai on Monday. The five-member SIT is headed by NCB Deputy Director General Gyaneshwar Singh.