SCCL blast: Victims’ kin protest, accept Rs 40 lakh payout

HYDERABAD: After a day-long protest and negotiations, the families of four coal mine contract workers, who had died in an explosives accident in a Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) open cast mine in Peddapalli district, decided to accept the bodies and Rs 40 lakh compensation each.
Though they demanded Rs 1crore compensation, they finally settled for Rs 40 lakh compensation per family.
Four contract workers — Rajesh, Arjayya, Rakesh and Praveen — died when boulders fell on them when the explosives meant for blasting went off even before they could be detonated in the open cast mine in Ramagundam.They died on the spot. Three others were injured.
After protracted negotiations with the SCCL management, the unions and public representatives agreed for Rs 40 lakh per family of the deceased as against their demand of Rs 1 crore each.
“Since they were contract workers, the SCCL management has also refused to provide jobs to the kin of the victims,” Hind Mazdoor Sabha general secretary Riyaz Ahmed told TOI. On Wednesday evening, the offer was conveyed to the families. Riyaz Ahmed said the families have been advised to take the bodies from the hospital to perform the last rites.
Police have made elaborate bandodust arragements at the Singareni area hospital at Godavarikani, where the bodies were brought for post-mortem examination, in view of the tense situation prevailing there since Tuesday morning when the accident took place. Though PME was completed on Tuesday itself, the families refused to accept them, demanding compensation. SCCL unions joined the families, boycotting work on Wednesday. They demanded Rs 1 crore compensation to the families and Rs 50 lakh to the injured.
It is learnt the private contractor, responsible for clearing mud in the mine-1, had offered Rs 5 lakh each to the kin, but they rejected it. Police stopped the firm from carrying out work at the site as investigation was on.