KOCHI: Hamstrung by lack of enough funds, the PS Gopinathan Commission probing the 2016 Puttingal fireworks tragedy has delayed submitting its report. Though the commission was all set to file its report before its tenure ends on Sunday, it has sought extension as it didn’t have enough money for printing and binding copies of its findings. The report will be tabled in the Assembly after the commission submits it before the government.
Recently, the commission approached the government to allocate funds needed to complete the procedures.
“The drafting of the report and final corrections have been made. However, due to a fund shortage, printing and binding of the report copies could not be completed. We requested the government to sanction the required funds. However, due to the delay in allocating the fund, one-month’s extension has been sought,” an officer said.
Earlier, the commission had decided not to seek further extension as the report was completed in April. However, since the final report comprises several pages and around 15 copies have to be brought out, more money is required for printing and binding work.
As part of the inquiry, 179 witnesses and 266 documents running into 4,779 pages were examined. The commission held 103 sittings.