(published in 2008)
Two years have passed and families of Bahrain blaze victims have yet to receive an apology from the Royal Tower Construction, finds out C Shivakumar
"When will my father return?" asks three-year-old
Sneha. Selvi, her mother, fights back tears and answers, "Your father has
gone abroad and will be back soon."
But before she could complete her sentence, Sneha looks at
32-year-old Kumar's photo and says, "Has he died in the fire
accident?" And then runs out to join her friends playing in the sand
outside a temple.
Life and death matter little for Sneha as she still lives in
the hope of seeing her father, who along with 15 others perished in the Bahrain
blaze on July 30, 2006.
"I tried hard to hide from them (children) but then it
is very difficult," says Selvi as two-year-old Kumaresan clutches his
mother's finger ignorant of the hard reality that he would live fatherless
throughout his life.
Nearly two years have passed since the Bahrain fire tragedy
happened and life is not easy for 21-year-old Selvi. Booted out by her in-laws,
the young widow is struggling to eke out a living and is surviving on the
goodwill of neighbours and relatives at her mother's place.
"My in-laws wanted a share in the cash dole, which I
refused. I have to take care of my children," says Selvi as she hugs
Kumaresan. "They threw me out. With the money which I received from the
Tamil Nadu government, I cleared the debt of Rs 1.25 lakh which my husband
incurred while trying to get a visa. Now it is hand-to-mouth existence for us.
I am working as a farm labourer for Rs 20 a day."
And like Selvi, most of the Bahrain fire victims' families
in Tamil Nadu's Cuddalore and Villupuram districts are in debt and struggling
to make both ends meet as most of them have lost their sole breadwinners.
The blaze victims were from Koothakudi, Varanjaram, Ogaiyur,
Sirumangalam, Perumangalam and Kottaiyur villages in Villupuram district and
Maankulam, Sethuvaranayankuppam, Melakurichi, Neeramani and Ko. Kothanur
villages in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu. The families survive on
agriculture and earnings from their relatives working abroad as construction
workers or doing some menial jobs.
"Our lives are dependent on monsoons. If it rains we
are able to find jobs here, or else we work as migrant labourers in Bangalore
and Kerala," says Maduraimuthu, who lost his son Balusamy in the fire
tragedy.
"In farming, we hardly earn anything. And we are living
on loans. So we thought if Balusamy could earn something it would be good. We
took a loan of Rs. 1.5 lakh to send him abroad. He was there for nearly two
years but then fate intervened and we lost him," says Maduraimuthu as he
wipes his tears.
"If it was not for the aid from the Karunanidhi government
we would have lost everything," he says.
The families have yet to receive any compensation or any
apology from the Bahrain-based company Royal Tower Construction under which the
victims were employed. A case has been filed against the firm by the Indian
Embassy in Bahrain .
"The Indian Embassy is doing its very best but the
wheels seem to be turning so slowly," says Migrant Workers Protection
Society Marietta Dias.
"It looks like the company's lawyers are using all
sorts of tactics to delay payment. They came up with a figure, then brought it
down to half and it seems to be going on like this all these months. They are
refusing to put in writing what exactly they are offering.
"Till today no figure has been submitted neither has an
apology tendered by the management of this company," she says.
"Bahrain does not have any laid down figures to pay out
for such cases but I can tell you that the Indian ambassador and his officers
are taking a keen interest in this case, among very many others and are not
willing to accept peanuts from this construction company, which already has a
bad reputation as paymasters and for overall welfare of their workers,"
says Ms. Dias, who has been honoured by the US State Department as a
Trafficking in Persons Hero early this month.
The accident also raised the issue of safety in workplace as
most of the workers were living in overcrowded and unhealthy conditions, with
several of them packed in rooms where they slept and also did the cooking.
"The fire started at 2.30am and it took us by surprise.
Between eight and 15 of us from Villupuram district share a room in the
21-bedroom building.
"We usually get up at 5am and don't get back from work
until 7pm so most of the workers were tired and asleep when the fire started in
the building. We started running helter and skelter. Some of us jumped from the
windows," recalls a survivor who escaped with minor burn injuries.
The Bahrain government after the intervention of Indian
Embassy ordered an investigation into the fire incident.
Three persons were also arrested in this connection. The
Bahrain government has also ordered a committee to look into the safety of the
Indian workers in construction sector.
Meanwhile, most of the families have given up hope on
receiving compensation from the Bahraini firm. Some of them tried through legal
means.
Devendran of Sethuvarayankuppam village, father of victim,
says a Chennai-based lawyer had approached the families promising to fight
their case. He took their addresses and other documents but has not shown up
since then.
Another victim's family say they paid Rs. 1,000 to a man
claiming to fight for their compensation. "He collected Rs. 1,000 from
each of the families and that is the last we heard from him."
Most of the victims have relatives working in the Gulf
countries. From Koothakudi and Varanjaram villages, as many as 60 to 70 men are
working as construction labourers in Bahrain . And they serve as an inspiration
for most of the families who live on hand-to-mouth existence.
Subramanyam of Varanjaram village went abroad to earn enough
to marry his two daughters and pay for his son's higher education. He borrowed
heavily to pay for his visa and a ticket to Bahrain.
But after his death, his wife Periammal was left struggling
to earn a living. With the money she got as aid from the government, she paid
off her debt and married one of her daughters. She and her other daughter
Sarasu are working as coolies to support her son, who is studying in a
polytechnic.
"If we get some financial help, life would be easy for
us," she says after a hard day of work in the fields.
Poongavanam, mother of Senthil who died in the accident,
says she decided to send her son abroad after seeing that many neighbours and
relatives working abroad had brought relative prosperity to their families.
"We were living in a mud house and thought if he works
abroad we would be well off."
But now she regrets her decision. "What use is the
money? Can I get back my son?" she asks.
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