Opposition Lawmakers Blame Mamata Banerjee Administration for Deadly Fireworks Plant Explosion

On Monday, a number of opposition lawmakers went to the scene of the Duttapukur fireworks plant explosion and accused the Mamata Banerjee administration of being to fault.

Nine people have already died as a result of Sunday's explosion at the illegal unit's stockyard in the hamlet of Mojpole in Duttapukur. The chief minister demanded a comprehensive investigation of the situation.

The opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari requested a response on the matter from Mamata in the House on Monday. He made a proposal to adjourn the Assembly's proceedings.

The Nandigram MLA was permitted to read the motion, but Speaker Biman Banerjee would not accept it. An enraged Adhikari drove BJP legislators on an 11-minute slogan-chanting rampage within the House before leaving.

"The chief minister does not attend House meetings. We demand that the government issue a statement on this tragedy. 100 people have died in similar explosions during the last six months. From Dubrajpur to Egra, such instances have occurred across the state, Adhikari informed reporters outside the Assembly.

The Nandigram MLA said that Mamata had formed a committee with the chief secretary as its chairman to stop illicit firecracker manufacturing in the wake of the Egra explosions in May of this year. Adhikari questioned, "What work has the committee completed so far?"

Later, Adhikari and a number of BJP MLAs went to the scene of the explosion in Duttapukur and spoke with the locals to learn about their complaints. Then he spoke to a crowd of onlookers in the area.

On Monday, Md. Salim, the state secretary of the CPM, and a few of his party's members also went to the bomb site. The wounded were also greeted by Salim at a nearby hospital. Several of the remains, he said, were too badly damaged to identify.

"Up to this point, Mamata Banerjee would give her police orders to falsify charges. Now that no one can match the parts, she may need to ask them to create bodies, he added.

"Police involvement is still in doubt... They are attempting to tamper with and destroy evidence. He said that "they are now attacking local residents who demonstrated against this illegal factory." He added that hundreds of similar facilities needed to be shut down.

The head of the state Congress, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, visited the scene of the Duttapukur bomb and blamed Mamata and her police administration for the disaster.

He said that despite being illegal, "the police and Trinamul leaders extort money from such factories and permit them to run."