Kin of untraceable Sigachi blast victims seek clarity on ex gratia eligibility
Families of untraceable Sigachi blast victims are seeking clarity on ex gratia eligibility, fearing denial of benefits due to lack of body recovery. With many losing sole breadwinners, they urged the government and Sigachi to ensure equal compensation.
Sangareddy: Even as the search continues for missing persons and DNA reports are awaited to identify several unclaimed bodies at the mortuary, the families of those untraceable in the Sigachi Chloro Chemicals Private Limited blast have expressed deep concern over the lack of clarity on ex gratia compensation.
As of Thursday, officials confirmed that at least ten persons were still untraceable, even four days after the explosion. Several bodies remained unidentified, pending confirmation through DNA matching. The families of the missing, many of whom lost their sole breadwinners in the tragedy, fear that they may be excluded from compensation schemes if their loved ones’ bodies are not officially recovered or identified.
Most of these families have been continuously moving between the blast site, the mortuary, and the Industrial Local Area Authority office, seeking information and support. They urged the Telangana government and Sigachi Industries management to make a clear announcement regarding the status of compensation for families of missing or unidentifiable victims, once rescue operations are fully concluded.
One woman, left to care for three children under the age of eight after losing her husband in the explosion, said her family would be unable to survive without the promised ex gratia. Her relatives feared that if the body was not recovered, she might be excluded from receiving support.
Another woman, the mother of a toddler and months into her pregnancy, faces a similar predicament. Unskilled and uneducated, she is entirely dependent on the compensation and support that may be extended to victims’ families. Their relatives said that unless Sigachi Industries treats families of the untraceable on par with those confirmed dead, their lives would become far more difficult.
Several families raised the same concern with officials who arrived from their respective States to assist them in Sangareddy, seeking assurance that their cases would not be left unresolved due to lack of physical identification.
