At least 107 people have lost their lives and several others were severely injured in a massive fire that broke out at Paravur’s Puttingal temple Kerala’s Kollam district in the wee hours of Sunday. As details of this man-made tragedy, and the audacity with which rules were flouted, became apparent, the house that was most sought after, was that of eighty-year-old woman, Pankajakshi Amma.
Though many people living near the temple were against the fireworks extravaganza and the competition each year, it was only Pankajakshi who had the courage to file a complaint against the temple, seeking a ban on the fireworks display.
For the past four years, her children based in London have been scared for their mother living alone in her house just 50 metres from the temple, and fighting it out.
The additional district magistrate’s order disallowing the festival clearly states that though more locals had complaints, only Pankajakshi was willing to file an official one.
However, her battle was in vain, as the fire caused by the fireworks killed at least 107 people, and left 383 people injured.
On Saturday morning, she claims that a few men had arrived at her house to threaten her.
Some men came here and threatened us saying we will conduct the competitive fireworks display and if we are not allowed to do this, we will kill all of you and dump you in the river.Pankajakshi to TNM
Her son-in-law Prakash, who had arrived a few days ago from London said,
Once the ADM’s report became public, the choicest abuses were hurled at me and threats were also issued against me. On April 9, at around 10:30 pm, two people came and abused my mother-in-law. She told me not to do anything as the DM will take care of it. Those two people came again and flung the notice on my face. After that, I went to the temple at around 11:30 pm when the fireworks started, as I couldn’t sit in the house because I was quite tense.
Prakash and his wife says they saw two injured people being taken out, but the fireworks still continued.
I think there were two casualties and I could hear the sound of ambulances approaching. Something happened, and the ambulances came. The fireworks display continued to go on in full force. After 10 minutes, there was a huge explosion. Power went, and there was darkness everywhere after the explosion. We couldn’t see anything.
Each year the family stays in a relative’s house during the fireworks. When the rest of the family came back in early next morning, their house had been significantly damaged, and body parts scattered everywhere.
This time’s ‘kampam’ is a special kampam. There is a big pole that they have made which is used to launch the fireworks. What kind of madness is this? They are destroying people’s lives.Pankajakshi
Though the terrible tragedy has come as a huge wake up call for the villagers, the octogenarian fears that the fireworks will resume at some point. She vows to continue her fight and resort to legal steps to ensure a total ban on fireworks display.
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