'Did you fall asleep?' Gujarat High Court slams Rajkot municipal body for gaming zone tragedy

Two days after a tragic fire at a gaming zone in Rajkot, Gujarat, resulted in the deaths of at least 27 people, including nine children, the Gujarat High Court came down hard on the city's municipal body.

On Monday (May 27), the Gujarat High Court reprimanded the Rajkot municipal body for turning a blind eye to two gaming zones which had been operating in the city for over two years without the required permits.

"This has been going on for two-and-a-half years (referring to the Rajkot gaming zone). Are we to assume you turned a blind eye? What do you and your followers do?" the court asked.

"Have you gone blind? Did you fall asleep?" questioned the court, slamming the civic body.

"Now we do not trust the local system and the state government," it added. As per media reports, the court said this after it was told the gaming centre in Rajkot had been built on unauthorised premises and that a hearing regarding fire safety had been on for four years.

Summer holidays turndeadly

On Saturday (May 25), a fire at a two-storey building housing the TRP Game Zone claimed the lives of 27 people, including nine children. The building, as per reports, was crowded with over 300 people, many of them children, due to the summer holidays and weekend rush.

Presenting newspaper clippings from various Indian publications, Advocate Amit Panchal informed the court that the TRP gaming zone in Rajkot had not obtained the necessary permissions, particularly from the fire department.

He argued that the corporation was at fault. Labelling the oversight "sheer negligence" by the authorities, he contended that the facility should not have been allowed to operate without proper approvals.

Police officers and Municipal body officials suspended

Meanwhile, the Gujarat government on Monday (May 27) suspended seven officials, including two police inspectors and civic staff, for negligence in the Rajkot game zone fire. The officials, as per a release from the government, have been held responsible "for their gross negligence in allowing this game zone to operate without necessary approvals."

As per ANI, those who have been suspended include Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) town planning department assistant engineer Jaideep Chaudhary, assistant town planner for RMC Gautam Joshi, Rajkot Roads and Buildings department’s deputy executive engineer HR Suma, Assistant Engineer Road and Building Department of RMC Parsbhai M Kothiya, Station Officer of Fire and Emergency Services of Rajkot Municipal Corporation, Rohit Vigora and police inspectors VR Patel and NI Rathod.

(With inputs from agencies)