The SIT (Special Investigation Team) appointed to probe the Rajkot fire tragedy that claimed 28 lives has submitted its preliminary report to the state government on May 30. The report points out to the shortcomings of Rajkot authorities to act, leading to the man-made disaster, as termed by Gujarat High Court.

RMC’s role

The report reveals that no inspection was carried out by the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) in the three years of when the TRP game zone was operational. Even the business-runners did not take any permission for the temporary construction of the dome that caught fire.

Moreover, under the pretext of a temporary structure, a concrete construction was built even when temporary construction was not allowed.

In a shocking revelation, SIT also revealed that there was only one ladder that led to the first floor of the game zone, which collapsed when the fire broke out. People stuck on the first floor were trapped due to that, and lost their lives.

Also read: “We do not trust state govt”, says Guj HC on Rajkot gaming zone tragedy

Rajkot Police department

As for the police system, the report mentioned that Rajkot PSI NI Rathore and VR Patel were negligent in issuing licences to game zones as the building was not checked properly.

Road and building department

Commercial activity was going on on non-agricultural land, and the local fire officer did not visit the site of the game zone. Officials of the Road & Building Department also refrained from investigating the structure.

Thus, the SIT report exposed the negligence of the RMC, police department, fire department, and road and building department.

It now needs to be seen what the state government will do based on the SIT report.

Also read:

‘No one will be spared,’ says SIT submitting report on Rajkot fire