UP govt denies lapse in relief work

lucknow: the uttar pradesh government on monday denied there was any lapse or laxity on the part of the district officials of mainpuri in carrying out relief work at motta where senior congress leader madhavrao scindia and seven others were killed in a plane crash on sunday. principal secretary (home) naresh dayal told reporters the officials can't be blamed for the delay caused in the removal of the bodies from the site of the crash as heavy rains and marshy land made it very difficult to reach there. the entire stretch of 2-3 kms in and around the site of mishap was submerged under rain water and the marshy land conditions made relief work difficult, dayal said adding tractors had to be brought to pull out the bodies. both the district administration and top officials in lucknow constantly monitored the situation and did everything possible to speed up the removal of bodies, he said. he, however, admitted there was a slight delay in the panchnama of the bodies as they were beyond recognition. dayal said chief minister rajnath singh himself took the risk of flying to the area where it was raining heavily to personally supervise the relief work. he said a seven-member team of security personnel was camping at the site of crash where the wreckage of the plane lay and the team would remain deployed till the completion of an inquiry by the civil aviation authorities. congress had charged the mainpuri administration of complete apathy and slackness in removal of the bodies and demanded action against the guilty. meanwhile, official reports reaching from mainpuri said the team of directorate general of civil aviation (dgca), was yet to reach there. the entire area in and around the crash site remained cordoned-off by security personnel. while the wreckage of the plane lay there, a large number of villagers kept on visiting the site from near, the reports said, adding the black box of the plane had not been recovered so far.