The death toll in the temple fire has been climbing since Sunday and stands at 113.
Days after the disastrous temple fire in Kerala, dozens of families in Kollam are struggling to return to normal life. The state government has asked the Centre to declare the tragedy a national disaster.
43-year-old Leela Kumari lost her husband in the explosion on Sunday. She has two children, no source of income and a home with no electricity or water supply. Her husband died before he could finish the paper work for the getting the connections. "I need money for the children's education, money to be able to survive. We have no other means," she says, almost choking on her tears.
Her husband had wanted their 16-year-old daughter to start taking tuitions for her class 10 board exams next year and promised her elder brother admission into an IT course. All that now seems impossible now.
"I don't think I can study now. I have to start earning for us to survive. There are loans to be paid off," says her son Shyamkumar SL, sitting outside his house.
Many families have been left scarred by the fire. The death toll in the temple fire has been climbing since Sunday and stands at 113.
Over 3,000 kg of illegal explosives have been seized from across Kollam in raids since the temple tragedy. Police sources say explosives found in abandoned cars were brought by firecracker contractors for the festival.
In the aftermath of the temple tragedy, the organisers of the famous Thrissur festival in Kerala have decided to celebrate the temple festival on Sunday without fireworks and with only one elephant, instead of the traditional 100. The celebrations have been scaled down not as a mark of sympathy but as a protest against the Kerala High Court banning the use of high-decibel crackers after sunset and the state government's move to regulate the use of fireworks.