Hyderabad, July 28 Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader T. Harish Rao on Monday alleged that the Telangana government has failed to pay compensation to families of those who died in an explosion at Sigachi Industries Limited in Sangareddy district on June 30.
He, along with relatives of some of the victims, met the Additional Collector and slammed the government for its failure to hand over the bodies of the deceased and for not paying compensation of Rs 1 crore each as announced by the Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.
Harish Rao led a protest rally by the families of the victims to the district Collector’s office.
The former minister said even a month after the accident at the factory in Pashamylaram industrial area, there is no clarity on the number of dead, as the bodies of eight workers have not been handed over to their families.
He recalled that the Chief Minister had announced Rs 1 crore compensation each to the families of the deceased, but not even one family has received the ex gratia.
Harish Rao said the families of the deceased were in mental agony as they were handed over charred body parts, which they had to immerse in the river.
The BRS leader said that an accident of this scale had not happened in the history of united Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
He said that though 54 people lost their lives in this tragedy, the state government’s response has been most pathetic and irresponsible.
He said there was no official statement about the number of dead and injured. He wanted to know why the government was hiding information about the payment made to the families of the deceased and the injured.
Harish Rao said the families of the victims were running around the government offices for death certificates and compensation. They are spending Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 to travel from states like Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
He said the Chief Minister had announced Rs 10 lakh each to the critically injured, but they received only Rs 50,000.
Harish Rao demanded that the government pay at least Rs 50 lakh each to the critically injured and also ensure payment of monthly salaries.
The BRS leader pointed out that an NGO has filed a petition in the High Court, seeking direction to the authorities to pay compensation as promised by the Chief Minister.
He also alleged that the government is trying to shield the company management, though it has become clear that the accident was caused by their negligence.
He claimed that Yashwant, son of a worker, Jagnmohan, who died in the accident, stated in his complaint that workers had warned the company many times that the use of old machinery could lead to disaster, but it did not pay any attention.
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