Bhubaneswar: The state government Wednesday formed a four-member team to assist Development Commissioner (DC) Anu Garg to complete an inquiry into the Puri stampede within 30 days. Garg has been asked to conduct the administrative inquiry into the death of three persons and the injury to around 50 people in the stampede near Gundicha Temple in Puri during the Rath Yatra festivities June 29.
According to an order issued by the General Administration and Public Grievance (GA&PG) department, four Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) officers have been included in the team. Joint Director of Estates and GA&PG department’s Additional Secretary Manas Ranjan Samal, and Housing and Urban Development department Additional Secretary Binaya Kumar Dash are part of the four-member team. Two others are Water Resources department Additional Secretary Rashmi Ranjan Nayak, and Works department Additional Secretary Pradip Kumar Sahoo. Of the four OAS officers, Dash and Sahoo are presently deployed in the Rath Yatra duty and will remain in Puri till July 8, the order said. “The officers concerned shall undertake the responsibility in addition to their regular duties. They are required to be present in the office of the Development Commissioner-cum-Additional Chief Secretary, Planning & Convergence department, for approximately two hours daily, from 3pm to 5pm, to support the inquiry process,” the GA&PG department order said. Hours after the stampede June 29, the state government had ordered an administrative inquiry headed by Garg and asked her to complete the probe within 30 days. Garg had Monday started her investigation into the incident and held discussions with the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Chief Administrator, Puri Collector and SP, besides other officials and temple servitors. The Development Commissioner said she would find out what led to the stampede situation and identify the people responsible for the incident. “I would also see what more measures could be taken to avoid such incidents in future,” the Development Commissioner said.
Apart from meeting different stakeholders, Garg said she would examine all CCTV footage, go through the deployment orders and whether the SOPs were being followed. On the day of the stampede, the state government shifted the Puri Collector and the SP. A new Collector and SP have been appointed, and senior bureaucrat Aravind Agarwal was assigned to supervise the Rath Yatra affairs in Puri. Senior IPS officer and ADG Soumendra Priyadarshi has also been given the overall charge of streamlining police arrangements for the Rath Yatra. Two senior police officers have also been suspended on charges of dereliction of duty.
