Apart from the Chief Secretary, the District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police of Kollam have been served the notices and asked to file reports within four weeks.
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The Kerala government has already ordered a judicial inquiry into the disaster and police have registered a criminal case against temple authorities.
The fire also caused a building in the temple complex to collapse, killing several people, according to media reports.
Police also said they were questioning five temple workers involved in staging the fireworks display.
Police officer Anantha Krishnan said the five suspects are employees of a fireworks manufacturer who was given the contract for running the show at the Puttingal Devi temple.
Amid the burnt out wreckage of the Puttingal Devi temple complex, in the village of Paravoor, rescue officials sifted through huge piles of dust, wood and concrete for clues about how an unauthorized pyrotechnic display staged before dawn on Sunday went so horribly wrong, sparking a fire that swept through the temple as it was packed with thousands for a religious festival. More than 100 died and more than 300 were injured. “People simply want to have a shortcut”, said Arun K. Attri, an environmental sciences professor at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University who has done research on the dangers of fireworks and called for a ban on them in India.
After scouring six hospitals and three morgues, N.P. Anoop is no closer to finding his father who was caught in a massive blast and fire at an Indian temple that claimed more than 100 lives.
If to go by the information provided by Kerala Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Ananthakrishnan, cops located and seized three explosive laden cars parked a few kilometers away form the temple.
As many as 60 bodies had been identified till evening.
Local TV channels broadcast images of huge clouds of white smoke billowing from the temple, as fireworks were still going off in the night sky.
By morning, firefighters had brought the blaze under control, officials said.
Scores of anxious relatives crowded the Kollam District Hospital on Monday, searching for loved ones still missing.
Local authorities said the temple was denied a permit for the display.
On the other hand, the Travancore Devaswom Board president, Prayar Gopalakrishnan, said that the board won’t ban fireworks during temple festivals as they are part of rituals.
They claim that the temple authorities did not show them a written order saying that they had received permission to hold the fireworks show and forcibly went ahead with the show.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who rushed to Kollam after knowing about the blast on Sunday said the incident was “heart-rending” and “shocking”.
Chandy, the state’s chief minister, said he had appointed a retired judge to investigate the events leading to the fire and that strict action would be taken against those who had ignored rules.
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Navy surgical teams on standby at Kochi, burns specialists accompanying PM to #Kollam, more medical teams from IAF & Navy ready to move.
