It is a double whammy of sorts for this joint family residing at MDO Colony in Madakasira town of Anantapur district.
Even as the family has been waiting for close to a decade for compensation from the State government for the 8 acres of land acquired for the Special Economic Zone close to the town, three of its members have died in the last three weeks, two of them due to COVID-19.
The strange quirk of fate has left five children under the care of a single woman, who stares at a definite financial crisis with no support coming forth from any quarter.
B. Umamaheswar (38), employed at a petrol pump, had given his samples for testing on May 14 when the pandemic was at its peak as he developed symptoms of COVID-19. Even before the result of the Rt-PCR test was announced, he had succumbed to the virus the following day. The result on May 19 had revealed his COVID-19 status.
B. Nagaraju, elder brother of Umamaheswar, had died of a heart-attack on May 16, unable to digest the death of his brother.
Another crisis befell the family when Umamaheswar’s wife, Varalakshmi (32), too had tested positive for COVID-19, and was admitted to a private hospital in Anantapur on May 31. She did not respond to the treatment and breathed her last on June 6 due to clots in the brain.
Parimala, a small-time beautician and wife of Nagaraju, is now shaken to the core. “If anything happens to me, there will be none to look after the five children,” Ms. Parimala fears.
While Nagaraju is survived by his wife, two sons, and a daughter, Umamaheswar is survived by two sons. The eldest of the five children has joined a diploma course, while the youngest is 4 years old.
Elusive land compensation
The family’s guava farm was taken over by the government. For reasons unknown, the government has not fixed the compensation as yet.
Farmers of the 1,600 acres acquired for the SEZ have been agitating from time to time seeking early settlement of compensation but to no avail.
