Three Andhra labourers allegedly commit suicide; "no work," said one in video
Hyderabad: At least three persons, all of whom were believed to be dependent on the construction sector for their livelihood, have killed themselves in separate incidents in the Tenali, Guntur and Mangalagiri regions of Andhra Pradesh this month. Their deaths have been linked by many to the slump in activity in the sector caused by a change in the state's policy on sand - which is required in large quantities to help strengthen buildings and used to make both cement and concrete.
One of the victims, Venkatesh, who lived in Guntur district, recorded a selfie before hanging himself. In the video, recorded over three weeks ago but which only became public now, he said he was killing himself because he was unemployed and had no other means of earning a living. According to his wife, Raashi, Venkatesh had been unemployed for the past four months.
"Our livelihood means was only construction business. My husband did not know any other work. We also have a one-year-old son who is not feeling well and needs medical care," she said.
A video, believed to be the one recorded by Venkatesh, has been tweeted by former Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, whose Telugu Desam party (TDP), which was in power earlier, has been accused by the ruling YSR Congress of being in cahoots with an alleged sand mafia.
In his Twitter message the former Chief Minister said it was "mind-boggling to see workers committing suicide".
"It is mind-boggling to see workers committing suicide for five months without work or families starving. The government should wake up to self-styled videos of selfies as a refuge," Mr Naidu wrote in Telugu.
Venkatesh's neighbours say the area they live in - Gorantla - is full of men and women who work in construction-related fields, like tile work, plumbing and construction.
"No one is having work and conditions are really bad. We appeal to the government to see that this changes," a neighbour said.
The other deaths were of Naga Brahmaji from Tenali, who killed himself earlier this month, and from Mangalagiri.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSR Congress government has tried to overhaul the sand policy in the state.
Last month the Chief Minister announced new rules under which the previous administration's "free sand policy" was scrapped and the material was made available only from government-owned stockyards.
The fallout of the policy has been that sand procurement has declined, affecting both the construction and real estate sectors.
The Jana Sena Party, which was founded by actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan and has a single seat in the state Assembly, has sought the centre's intervention to help more than 30 lakh people who are employed, either directly or indirectly, by the construction section.
"I appeal to the centre to come to the rescue of construction workers. The AP government's chaotic sand policy has put lakhs of workers out of job and put their families in a state of misery," the party chief said
The TDP has demanded the government pay each worker Rs. 10,000 as compensation. The ruling party has blamed sand scarcity in the Krishna Basin, due to recent floods, for the situation.
అయిదు నెలలుగా పనులు లేక, కుటుంబాలు పస్తులు ఉండడం చూడలేక మనోవేదనతో కార్మికులు ఆత్మహత్యలు చేసుకోవడం మనసును కలచివేస్తోంది. సెల్ఫీ వీడియోలతో ఆత్మహత్యలే తమకిక శరణ్యంగా పేర్కొనడం చూసైనా ఈ ప్రభుత్వం మేల్కొనాలి.పనులు కోల్పోయిన కార్మికులకు పరిహారం చెల్లించాలి. pic.twitter.com/NhQAYHFQF1
— N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) October 28, 2019
Courtesy: www.ndtv.com
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Mathura boat capsize tragedy: Death toll climbs to 13
Mathura (UP)(PTI): With the recovery of two more bodies on Sunday, the death toll in the boat capsize incident in the Yamuna river in Mathura has climbed to 13, officials said on Sunday.
Search for three more missing persons is underway.
Superintendent of Police (Rural) Suresh Chandra Rawat said renewed search efforts led to the recovery of the body of a college student, identified as Dinki Bansal, near Devraha Baba Ghat and that of a man identified as Rishabh Sharma approximately 3 km away from the accident site.
The incident occurred on Friday afternoon when a boat carrying over two dozen tourists, primarily from Punjab, hit a floating drum of a pontoon bridge and capsized near Kesi Ghat in Vrindavan.
Most of the victims were from Jagraon and Dugri areas of Ludhiana district.
Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) along with the district administration and local police were actively engaged in the search for the missing pilgrims.
However, strong currents of the Yamuna river and the significant depth of the water at the ghats are proving a hindrance.
Circle Officer (Mant) Sandeep Singh said the Yamuna river stretch extending from Keshi Ghat to Gokul Barrage has been divided into seven sectors.
The search for the missing individuals will now be conducted within this specific 20-square-km zone. A Station House Officer (SHO) has been designated as the in-charge for each sector.
Acting on the orders of the DIG (Agra Range), seven SHOs will oversee operations across the seven sectors of river Yamuna.
Giving details about the operation, Additional District Magistrate (Finance and Revenue) Pankaj Kumar Verma, citing NDRF officials, on Saturday had said although the search for the missing persons is currently focused within a 14-km radius from the spot where the boat had capsized, there is a possibility that they may have been swept much further downstream.
SHO of Vrindavan police station Sanjay Pandey said boat operator Pappu was arrested late on Friday night.
He is accused of failing to provide life jackets to passengers before allowing them to board the boat, and operating the boat at high speed. This resulted in the boat losing control and colliding with a pontoon bridge's drum, which led to the accident, officials said.
Police have registered a case and also arrested the contractor, Narayan Sharma, responsible for the repair work on the pontoon bridge.
Rawat said that on Friday evening, police registered a case under section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the boatman Pappu (alias Dauji) and Sharma, and subsequently arrested them.
According to the case details, Pappu's boat did not have any safety equipment or provisions whatsoever.
Moreover, despite repeated pleas from pilgrims, Pappu operated the boat at high speed. By the time he realised the danger upon approaching the pontoons of the bridge, it was already too late.
Consequently, after colliding with a pontoon drum, the boat lost control and capsized. It has also come to light that he is among those operators who have not obtained the requisite license to operate a boat.
Sharma was carrying out the work of dismantling and reassembling the pontoon bridge without providing any prior notification.
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