Hyderabad: After the city received a heavy downpour earlier this week, which came as a sigh of relief from a scorching heat for many, it was not the same for the workers who had migrated to the city in pursuit of livelihood.
At Buchapally, a perimeter wall of an under-construction building killed seven workers, including three of a family, after it collapsed due to the torrential rain. All of the deceased—Tirupati and Shankar, both aged 20, Raju 25, his wife Khushi, Ram Yadav, his wife Geetha Yadav, and their 4-year-old son—hailed from Odisha.
Consequently, the bereaved kin of the laborers are in a quandary with no one to help them, leaving them in despair.
‘Treated like animals’
While speaking to local media, Udal Yadav, a relative of Ram and Geetha, said, “It was raining heavily when the wall collapsed on our huts around 6:30 pm. There are 40 to 50 construction workers from Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Bengal. We have been camping at the construction site for the past three months.”
“We are treated like animals or beggars. It has been more than 24 hours, and no builder who employed us nor political leaders have come forward to help us,” he lamented with disappointment.
Hyderabad rains: 7 workers die after wall collapses at Bachupally
Saying that their daily wage was Rs 800, Udal reasoned that they had “migrated here to seek livelihood. We don’t have the money to treat the injured or carry the bodies home.”
Demand for compensation
Among the disappointed kin was Tirupati’s brother, who was angry with the builder: “My brother came three months ago, and he died due to the negligence of their employer. We have been contacting the contractor, but he is not responding to our calls. How can he stay away when his laborers have died in a mishap?” asked he.
“The contractor informed us about the demise of my brother yesterday. If one goes to the site, they will know the neglect in which the laborers are living,” he said.
The relatives demanded a compensation of Rs 20 lakh per deceased.
The Bachupally police said that the Twin Cities Contractors Association has said that it would pay Rs 11.5 lakh to the kin of each deceased person.
It said that it would “pay Rs 50,000 each immediately and the remaining Rs 11 lakh to the dependents later on, after producing identity proof.”
Meanwhile, the families of the deceased said that the ambulance operators were demanding Rs 50,000 each for taking the bodies home.
