Members of the A.P. Girijana Yanadula Samakhya along with relatives of the Porlukatta fireworks blast victims staged a dharna with the body of one of the victims on the busy VRC Centre on Trunk Road here on Sunday demanding strong punishment of persons responsible for the tragedy.
The death toll in the December 31, 2016 blast reached 15 with all the victims dying. Three persons died on the day of the blast and all others in the past eight days. They were given treatment at the Narayana super-speciality hospital and the DSR Government General Hospital here.
Discontent over govt. response
The Yanadi leaders alleged that the government did not take enough measures to extend expected financial assistance. It also failed to prevent exploitation of thousands of Yanadi families.
Girijana Yanadula Samakhya president G. Sriramulu and honorary president Sk. Basheer said that they had demanded Rs.15 lakh financial assistance to the kin of each of those killed in the blast. A job for one family member and also houses were among the other demands made by the Samakhya.
Mr. Sriramulu lamented that there was no statement from the Chief Minister or the Tribal Welfare Minister till now about the steps being taken to protect the interests of the tribal victims in the explosion. Their demand for registering a case under the SC, ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, had also not been met so far, he said.
Bid to escape law
The Yanadi Samakhya leaders took strong objection to the manner in which a tribal worker was projected as the owner of the Porlukatta fireworks unit in the first few days of the explosion. It turned out that it was intentionally done by the real owners to escape punishment under the law.
Since all those who died in the blast were ST Yanadi tribal workers, the real owners of the fireworks unit should be prosecuted under the Atrocities Act.
The leaders were mobilising the poor residents of Challa Yanadi tribal families in and around Sundarayyanagar near Porlukatta area to continue their agitation for getting justice to the aggrieved families.
