11 people attending Maharashtra Bhushan programme die of heatstroke

NAVI MUMBAI: The government’s euphoria and self-congratulation over the grand Maharashtra Bhushan award function soon turned into tragedy, as several attendees who were in the scorching heat for hours complained of dehydration, dizziness, nausea and chest pain. According to the district collector of Raigad, Yogesh Mhase Patil, the death toll on Sunday night had reached 11 while 50 persons were hospitalised. Police sources said that three patients in hospital are on the ventilator.

The Maharashtra government had planned the function in a sprawling 208-acre open ground in Khargar in Navi Mumbai, and there were announcements about how 20 lakh followers of the award recipient, spiritual leader Appasaheb Dharmadhikari, were expected to attend. The Shinde-Fadnavis government left no stone unturned to make the show a grand spectacle, with Union home minister Amit Shah flying down specially to confer the award on Dharmadhikari.

Chief minister Eknath Shinde rushed back to Navi Mumbai in the evening, as the reports of deaths and sickness emerged. He reached MGM Kamothe Hospital at around 9 pm along with state ministers Deepak Kesarkar and Ravindra Chavan and MLA Nitesh Rane, along with a host of top bureaucrats. Unlike in the past when the media accompanied Shinde inside the hospital when he met patients, even after the recent bus tragedy on the Mumbai-Goa highway, this time the media was kept out, with the hospital gates being closed after he went in.

After his hospital visit, Shinde termed the deaths as “sad and unfortunate”. “Over 20 patients have been sent home after treatment,” he said. “The government will give free treatment to all patients, and ₹5 lakh as financial assistance to the families of the deceased. I have deputed a special officer to coordinate everything.” While Shinde said seven or eight people had died, police sources on condition of anonymity said that there were at least 12 deaths while two patients at MGM Hospital were on the ventilator. An employee of the Tata Memorial Hospital at Khargar revealed that nine persons had died there, and their bodies had been shifted for post-mortem.

Questions are being raised on the organisation of the programme that was planned on such a mammoth scale. While there were two shelters with an overhead covering for the VIP section and the main stage, the audience was made to sit in the open sans any covering. The print media section too was out in the open, and was shifted to the VIP section only after journalists objected. Shinde, however, declared that all the criticism was “politically motivated” and he would not comment on it. “The deaths were unfortunate but the programme itself was very smoothly conducted,” he said.

The programme, which began shortly after 11 am, ended at around 2 pm, the hottest time of the day. It was obvious to everyone that the audience was suffering in the heat—however, speaker after speaker lauded them for patiently sitting in the sweltering heat and not moving from their place. In fact, announcements were made that even the Sun God was eager to witness the award ceremony, and hence had come out in full glory.

There were complaints about the lack of water as well. Said a Dharmadhikari Pratishthan volunteer, “The water bottles were kept in an area into which the security personnel of Amit Shah would not allow us, as his movement was from that area. We couldn’t give water even to Eknath Shinde’s son, MP Shrikant Shinde, when he asked for it. He had to take water from the tanker there.”

When questioned about the shortcomings in the organisation of the programme, the volunteer categorically said, “It was a programme organised by the government, and our volunteers were there only to help. We did not make the arrangements, and hence we will not speak on any aspect of the organisation.”

Soon after the programme ended, over a hundred people complained of giddiness and nausea, with some fainting. Many were rushed to the medical booths at the venue for help. Over 300 people were reportedly admitted to hospital though the government has not confirmed the figure.

Said Revati Gaikar, deputy collector, “We have 32 booths here for immediate attention and first aid, with four doctors and other staff looking after them. For those needing additional medical attention, we have a 25-bed hospital close by, where we have ICU facilities and 20 doctors stationed. We referred around 13 people whose condition was serious to the local hospitals.”

Gaikar said that most of the patients were suffering from dehydration and nausea. “Some had arrived at the venue a day before the ceremony, and had had little sleep, which exacerbated the problem,” she said.

Several patients were admitted to MGM Kamothe Hospital, D Y Patil Hospital in Nerul, Fortis hospital in Vashi and other hospitals. Nine patients were admitted to NMMC Hospital, of whom one, Vinayak Haldankar, is reported to be in critical condition. Dr Prashant Javade, medical superintendent of the hospital, told HT that Haldankar, 55, had suffered a heart attack and was on ventilator support. Haldankar’s distraught wife said the family was hoping he would recover soon.

Another victim, Jayashree Dnyaneshwar Patil, said she was attempting to save her husband Dnyaneshwar who had fainted when her daughter Rewa too lost consciousness. “My husband could not get up,” she said. “I myself started feeling drowsy, and we were all taken to MGM Kamothe Hospital.” Vidya Patil, a resident of Virar, whose sister-in-law was in MGM Hospital, said her family had arrived on Saturday for the programme. “The heat was killing,” she said. “There were arrangements for water but people still fainted.”

Several relatives of the deceased and the sick, however, refused to speak or blame anyone for the incident. Indeed, a relative of a person who died at MGM hospital, said, “It is a blessing that our relative died at a programme of Appasaheb. What more could anyone want? Besides, the government has also announced ₹5 lakh compensation to the family. Why should we blame anyone?” At Vashi NMMC Hospital too, relatives refused to speak to the media and even threatened to call the police to keep the media out.