No death certificates, no clarity on ex gratia: Sigachi blast victims’ families in distress

Families of eight workers missing in the Sigachi Industries blast continue to struggle for death certificates and ex gratia payments. They approached BRS leader T Harish Rao, citing bureaucratic delays and lack of accountability from both the government and management

Sangareddy: There has been an inordinate delay in issuing death certificates for the eight employees who went missing in the Sigachi Industries blast, forcing their relatives to run from pillar to post.

An insensitive administration reportedly responded to their inquiries by saying that even after 150 days of the SLBC tunnel collapse, no death certificate had been issued to the six missing persons. This reply left the bereaved family members traumatised.

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The sorry state of affairs was brought to the attention of BRS legislator and former minister T Harish Rao, who met the relatives of the Sigachi blast victims at the Sangareddy Collectorate on Monday. The relatives also complained to Harish Rao that they were struggling to get clarity on the ex gratia that was promised.

Meanwhile, some of the missing persons’ families, who hail from other States, said they were finding it difficult to stay here while paying house rents. The brother of G Venkatesh, who went missing after the blast, said they had no clarity on who would extend the ex gratia to them. He added that there was no person accountable from either the government or the management.

The victims’ families further urged the management to provide salaries to the victims until the total ex gratia is paid. They claimed that many of them received only ₹1 lakh so far, even a month after the incident, while the management had promised to pay the entire amount within 15 days.