KOZHIKODE: A housewife who suffered severe burns while preparing the pongala offering during the Attukal Pongala in Thiruvananthapuram has died while undergoing treatment, with her family alleging serious safety lapses at the ritual site.
The deceased is Vijisha, a housewife from West Hill in Kozhikode. She had suffered severe burns while participating in the pongala ritual near the KTDC Chaithram Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram, where thousands of women gather annually to prepare the sacred offering in earthen pots.
According to her husband Dinesh Kumar, the accident occurred while Vijisha was cooking the pongala offering on a temporary hearth set up in front of the hotel premises.
He alleged that the hearths were placed extremely close to each other without adequate safety spacing. Dinesh claimed that the fire spread to Vijisha’s clothes from a stove that had been set up directly behind her.
He said the family had earlier raised concerns with police personnel stationed at the location. However, he alleged that officers told them they were “helpless” and unable to rearrange the hearths or enforce safer spacing.
Following the incident, Vijisha sustained critical burn injuries and was rushed to the Thiruvananthapuram MCH for emergency treatment. She was later shifted to a private hospital in Kozhikode for advanced medical care. However, she died on Tuesday morning.
Family members and relatives have strongly criticised the authorities for what they describe as serious lapses in safety management at the ritual site. “The tragedy happened because of the negligence of the authorities. The hearths were placed very close to each other.
When people requested that some distance be maintained, no one was willing to make changes. Even the police were reluctant to intervene,” her husband said. They further alleged that there were no immediate fire-fighting facilities available in the vicinity to control the blaze once Vijisha’s clothes caught fire.
So far, officials have not issued a detailed response to the allegations raised by the family regarding the safety lapses.