The Kerala government has decided to give compensation of Rs 2 lakhs to the families of those killed in the hotel collapse at Thampanoor in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.
Four people have been reported dead in the tragedy with the fourth dead body recovered an hour before.
The dead are Babu alias Thomas, Ravi of Kanyakumari, Krishnan Kutty alias Johnson of Dhanuvachapuram and Suman from Assam.
Rescue operations are in full swing following doubts of more people including women being trapped inside the collapsed building debris.
The police have already slapped a case of culpable homicide against the owner of the hotel group.
Paloli Mohammed Kutty, the state minister for local bodies, told rediff.com over the phone that the building rules would be amended and stringent measures would be taken to avoid and prevent such tragedies in future.
Thiruvananthapuram Mayor Jayan Babu told to rediff.com that the building owners had violated some major precautionary measures while going for the renovation work.
The Udupi Sreenivas hotel, which is over fifty years old, and located at a stone throw distance from the busy state transport bus station collapsed around 3 pm on Monday.
Social activists are up in arms against the callous attitude taken by the government in sanctioning permit for renovation of the fifty year old building without taking proper care.
George P Sajith of Gemson trust, while speaking to rediff.com, said that the corporation should have taken more care in giving permission for the renovation, taking into account the location of the collapsed hotel.
He further said that if the hotel building had leaned forward into the road or into the adjacent cinema theater complex, more tragedies would have occurred and said that the government officials cannot shy away from the responsibility.
He called upon the authorities to conduct a fair and free investigation into the tragedy.
