Thane tragedy: Bodies of 11 from Bengal brought back

Malda (

), April 8: Eleven out of the 74 people who were

in the recent building collapse in Thane in

belonged to Malda, said a

. They were mainly workers who went to the western state to earn a living.

The bodies were brought back to Kolkata by air on Saturday and were sent to Malda by roadway. However, according to one report published in Bengali daily Ei Samay, none of the dead men had any identity proof of the labour department.

Two state ministers from the district Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury and Sabitri Mitra went to meet the family of the deceased. They were accompanied by top administrative and police officers.

The ministers said they spoke to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee while she had gone to Bangalore and the latter instructed the residential commissioner in New Delhi to take necessary steps. An official reached Maharashtra on Friday and arranged for bringing the bodies back. Malda district magistrate G Kirankumar had sent three trucks to Dum Dum airport to bring back the bodies.

But since none of the deceased had ID proofs issued by the labour department as unorganised labourers, their families were not eligible to receive state assistance of Rs 1.50 lakh.

While the families of the 11 workers at Kaliachak block no. 2 were in a state of shock, those from the state still working in Thane were not relieved either. For, many of the promoters have abandoned their projects following the Thane tragedy, leaving those workers unemployed. With little money in hand, they could not even return home.

OneIndia News