At least 8 dead of heat stroke in Maharashtra event

At Least 7 to 8 people have succumbed to a sun stroke after attending a Maharashtra Bhushan awards programme on Sunday which was attended by Home Minister Amit Shah at Kharghar in Navi Mumbai. The Maharashtra Bhushan event was organised by the state government to honour a social activist and reformer Dattatreya Narayan Dharmadhikari popularly known as Appasaheb Dharmadhikari. Home Minister Amit Shah was the special guest who conferred the Maharashtra Bhushan award to Dharmadhikari. The more than a lakh crowd had gathered at the Corporate park open ground in Navi Mumbai to witness the award being conferred on Dharmadhikari.

The event took place till 2pm which led to several hundred people, mostly women, falling ill immediately after the event as they sat under the hot sun without any shade to protect them. Those falling ill were rushed to different hospitals in Navi Mumbai. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde who visited the sick in the MGM hospital in Navi Mumbai where at least 50 were admitted to the hospital. 24 of these 50 in MGM are still under treatment, while around four to five people who have suffered sun stroke have been admitted to different hospitals as their condition was reported to be serious. The death toll was being quoted by some officials anonymously at 12 to 13 however since many patients were being shifted from one hospital to another this figure was not officially verifiable till the time of going to the press.

“It’s a sad and unfortunate event that some have become ill due to sun stroke. We are ensuring that they get the best care. I have been told by doctors that around 7 to 8 people have died due to this which involves women too. I express my condolences to their families. We will take care of the medical expenses of those who are undertaking treatment.”said Shinde after visiting the ill in the hospital. He also announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh for those families who have lost their family members in the event.


The Congress has slammed the government for holding such an event in an open ground during the summer season. Atul Londhe the Congress spokesperson in Maharashtra claimed that the incident happened due to the state government’s negligence. “ They should not have held such a grand programme when there was such a heat wave. The programme was not organised well by the state.”