A pall of gloom has descended on the Dalit colony in Hunsioli village of Surpur taluk.
Eight persons from two families in the village, who had gone to work as construction workers at Gandhinagar in Bellary, are believed to be under the rubble of the apartment building that collapsed on Tuesday.
A majority of members of over 20 Dalit families in the village are migratory workers. While all able-bodied persons go in search of work, the aged and young children are left behind.
Glued to television
Village residents have remained glued to television sets ever since the news about the building collapse broke, to know the fate of the eight persons.
They gave the names of those who they believed are under the rubble as Basavaraj, his wife Mallamma, their sons Bhimaraya and Ramalinga; Huligappa, his wife Huligamma, and their two daughters Rekha and Surekha.
They said the workers had left the village two weeks ago to work at Gandhinagar in Bellary.
Basavaraj has left behind three other sons Marilinga, Huligappa and Honnappa, and sister Huligamma in the village. Narrating the trauma the family members were undergoing, Huligamma told visiting presspersons on Thursday, “We hope that my brother and his family members will be rescued.”
Huligappa has left behind his son Mariappa, father, Mallappa, and sister Renuka in the village. Mallappa is in a state of shock.
‘No information’
Residents of the village said that none of the officials from the district administration or the police had come to the village to give information on the missing persons.
Meanwhile, bodies of four construction workers hailing from Doangoan in Chitapur taluk of Gulbarga district and two workers hailing from Shankarwadi on the outskirts of industrial township at Wadi in Chitapur taluk were recovered from the rubble of the apartment building on Thursday.
The police identified them as Narasappa Mahadev, his wife Manjula, their daughter Kavita, and Ningappa, all from Doangoan; and Shankarappa Mallappa and his wife Devaki Shankarappa of Shankarwadi.
Mallappa Ningappa and Putlabai from Doangoan, and Kashappa from Shankarwadi who were also working at the construction site in Bellary are missing.
