The Tamil Nadu gas leak incident: A heartbreaking story of poverty, desperate migration, and the tragic deaths of 12 daughters from a small tribal village in Odisha.
New Delhi: The tragic deaths at a seafood processing unit in Tiruvallur, Tamil Nadu, have exposed the pain of a highly vulnerable tribal community in Odisha’s Keonjhar district. This tragedy reflects the desperate migration that has devastated these villages of their youth, especially women.
56-year-old Bisuni Juang is illiterate. But sitting outside his mud hut, he carefully examines a pile of government documents. He tries to understand how his 16-year-old daughter, Jamini, died in Tamil Nadu, nearly 1,500 kilometers away.
Since the gas leak at a factory in Tiruvallur district on June 21st, 15 people have lost their lives. Of these, 12 deceased were from Odisha’s Keonjhar district, all women. Two of the deceased, including Bisuni’s daughter, Jamini, were residents of Rangamatia village.
Geographical Context
Of the 68 people hospitalized, 65 are women. The five who are in critical condition and battling for life on ventilators all hail from Rangamatia.
Rangamatia is a small tribal village with a population of just over 200. At least 10 women and 8 men from this village were working in the same seafood unit. This gas leak has made this small village the victim of one of the biggest incidents ever.
Maps
Bisuni says that some block officials came to his house and handed over Jamini’s body, simply stating that she died due to ‘gas’. The distraught father says he doesn’t know what this means; his daughter was only 16 years old and still had a full life ahead of her.
Jamini, who studied until Grade 5, was the third of Bisuni’s four daughters. Her two elder sisters, aged 21 and 19, are married, while the youngest is just 14. Jamini left for Tamil Nadu about seven months ago, becoming the first member of the family to leave Keonjhar. Usually, they only visit their married daughters’ homes in nearby villages.
The family has had no contact with Jamini since her departure. Until last year, the village didn’t even have mobile network; now, it has BSNL service, but Bisuni doesn’t have the money to buy a phone. The Juang community is part of a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), and Bisuni has long struggled with extreme poverty. Her only assets include two goats and a mud house divided into two parts.
Due to the lack of their own cultivable land, the tribal people of the village clear parts of the forest to grow crops and depend entirely on forest produce.
Tourist Attractions
According to the 2011 census, Rangamatia had 38 households and a total population of 158. Located in hilly terrain and poorly maintained roads, this village lacks drinking water or electricity. A small spring in the nearby forest is the only source of water for quenching thirst. The village has only one Anganwadi (Anganwadi) and a primary-level school.
Girls like Jamini typically don’t study beyond grade 5. The nearest high school is 10 kilometers away, and reaching it is nearly impossible due to lack of money and transportation. While government records state a motorable road 1 km away, it is located on the other side of a hill. The nearest hospital is located 40 km away in the town of Harichandanpur.
Unable to even reach nearby markets for employment, young people like Jamini are forced to migrate to support their families. Bisuni doesn’t even know the wages her daughter was promised there. Girls and women who go out to work are mostly unmarried. It’s usually the men of the household who go out to work after marriage.
The Odisha government initially announced a compensation of ₹4 lakh for the families of the deceased, which was later increased to ₹10 lakh. However, Bisuni claims that they have so far received only ₹3,000 from the Panchayat for the funeral.
Native
Gumani Juang, the second victim of Rangamatia, was 15 years old according to her Aadhaar card, but her parents claim she is 19. She had gone to Tamil Nadu in November last year with a group of laborers, including her 20-year-old elder brother, Parsu. Parsu was employed at a unit in Andhra Pradesh.
Gumani’s 53-year-old father, Bira Juang, was against sending her so far. But Gumani was not ready for marriage and, lured by the promise of a better life and money, insisted on going. Bira says that he last spoke to his daughter on the phone just a few hours before the gas leak. She happily told him that she had saved some money and would return home soon.
Upon receiving news of the gas leak and Gumani’s critical condition, the family hired a car and set out. They had just reached Bhubaneswar when Parsu called to inform them that it was difficult to reach Gumani’s place of work. Disappointed, they returned, and later their worst fears were proven true.
Bira, who owns a two-room house built under the Rural Housing Scheme and a few goats, no longer wants to let his son Parsu go out to work. He says he cannot afford to lose his last remaining child.
Natural Disasters
Bira Juang also makes serious allegations against an organized network that lures tribal youth like his daughter. He names Shrikant Juang from his own village, who posed as a supervisor of a unit in Tamil Nadu and convinced them to go there.
Keonjhar District Labor Officer Akash Bisoi has informed that the accused, Shrikant, is currently absconding and strict legal action will be taken against him. The Keonjhar District Labor Office does not have official figures on the number of tribal laborers migrating from these interior areas, but hundreds are unofficially acknowledged to be working outside.
Following the deaths in Tamil Nadu, the Odisha Labor Department ensured the return of 58 migrant laborers, most of whom were from Keonjhar district.
Keonjhar District Collector Vishal Singh said the administration is conducting a thorough investigation to determine whether the Juang community members left voluntarily or were lured into forced labor, as some claim.
Currently, at least 40 young people from Rangamatia, representing a fifth of the total population, are working outside. This mass exodus has left only the elderly and children in the village.
Due to its extreme backwardness, Keonjhar has long been an easy target for labor contractors. A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that contractors prefer young people because they are willing to work for very low wages. Many of the victims were earning only around 8,000 rupees per month; and with a little experience, they could demand a maximum of 12,000 rupees.
Once a tribal gains some “experience,” they become an easy means for contractors to attract other villagers.
In 1978, the state government launched the “Juang Development Agency” to uplift this community in Keonjhar, Jajpur, and Dhenkanal districts through agriculture, livelihood support, housing rights, and basic amenities. However, local leader Sukru Juang clearly states that these projects remain confined to government paperwork rather than in reality.
History
Umi Daniel, an expert in migration and climate studies, says that this trend of leaving home for work is new and extremely worrying. The natural resources on which the Juang community primarily depends are rapidly depleting, and their youth lack any specialized skills, making them vulnerable to exploitation.
Rangamatia’s Endless Wait
Eighteen people from this village, working at the seafood unit in Tamil Nadu where the gas leak occurred, left after Kali Puja in November. According to family members, this was their first trip, and they were assured they would return home by Raja, the region’s famous agricultural festival. Even after the festival passed in mid-June, none of them returned.
Among the seriously injured is 20-year-old Aila Juang. Aila, who dropped out after grade 5, had gone to work as a laborer to support the education of her two younger brothers. Her mother, Hira, is pleading with the government to bring her seriously injured daughter back home safely.
People and Society
Gura Juang’s son, Sumant, his newlywed wife, Seema, and daughter, Chanchala, had also gone to work at the same seafood unit. Fortunately, Sumant and Chanchala are doing well, but Seema’s condition remains extremely critical. Sumant was among the workers evacuated by the Odisha government after the incident and was later sent back to Chennai with two others to be with their hospitalized relatives.
Gura Juang, staring blankly, says that they all went hoping for a better future for their children, but now no one knows what lies ahead.
Rajan Chaudhary
Courtesy: Hindi News