PALAKKAD: A show cause notice has been issued to district fire officer asserting that fire and rescue did not carry out effective rescue operations when Babu was trapped on Kumbachi hill in Cherad. The Director General of Fire and Rescue Office sought an explanation. The notice also alleged that the information was not communicated to top officials in a timely manner. An explanation has been asked to submit in 48 hours.

The world saw through the media a youth begging for life for more than 40 hours. All these were not informed either to the state office or the technical department. There were complaints that technical assistance was not provided and that not enough staff had been sent to the spot. The notice was sent on the basis of this.

There were people in Palakkad itself who were capable of doing the same things that the army did. The scuba diving team, which has been conducting rescue operations on slopes below 400 meters, there were people trained to rescue people with ropes. There were complaints that none of them were utilised for the action. There were also allegations of serious lapse on the side of the district fire officer.