A small village in Murshidabad is in mourning after a fire at a temporary workers’ shelter near Bengaluru, earlier this month, claimed six lives and left another man fighting for his life. The blaze, which officials say followed a suspected gas leak, broke out on October 6 in Bidadi, where the men were employed as construction workers for a private company. The deceased have been named as Jahid Ali, 32, of Hariharpara; Minarul Sheikh, 35; Tajibul Sheikh, 35; Jiaur Sheikh, 40, Safijul Sheikh, 30, and Hassan Mullick, 40, both of Berhampore. All six succumbed to burn injuries at Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru. Noor Jamal Sheikh remains under treatment there. “We are all mourning the deaths. The state government has been with them since the accident took place. We also arranged for their hospitalisation. Our chief secretary was in touch with the Karnataka government,” said Samirul Islam, TMC Rajya Sabha MP and West Bengal Migrant Workers Welfare Board chairman, who has been coordinating between families in Bengal and helpers in Bengaluru. “Due to severe burns, six of the seven injured have died. The state government will do everything possible for the families of those who died,” he added. “It’s is a tragedy, so many of our migrant workers died. They had over 80 percent burns. I personally had a talk with the doctors. The migrant labourers cannot afford to bring back the bodies to their homes in Murshidabad. I personally called up Karnataka ministers. They are helping in bringing the bodies back after post mortem.The Bengal government which is harping on migrant labourers' plight in other states is just using them and the issue for elections. The state government did nothing to bring the bodies back or stand with the families of those who died,” said Adhir Chowdhury, senior Congress leader and former Lok Sabha MP from Berhampore seat. Back in Berhampore, the shock is raw and practical problems are piling up. Relatives told The Indian Express they cannot afford to bring the bodies home for burial. “Our village is shocked. We are waiting for the bodies. We have pooled in money. All villagers contributed to send people and bring the bodies back home,” said Khairul Hossain, husband of panchayat pradhan Tuhina Yasmin. He said the construction company would cover some costs, but that the workers, the sole breadwinners in their families, had little money to begin with. “We tried to do our best,” said R Kaleem Ullah of Swaraj Abhiyan, an activist who helped the migrants in Bengaluru and coordinated relief efforts with Samirul Islam. “The Bengal government should pay compensation to the families of migrant labourers who died here. So far they helped after the accident. But sadly we could not save them.” Family members pleaded for a clearer, institutional response. “Within a couple of days my relative and others died. They are poor. The state government should give some help,” said Musabur Sheikh, brother-in-law of Tajibul Sheikh. Activists reiterated that ad hoc fundraising and volunteer support cannot substitute for a formal mechanism to help migrants in distress far from home. “There must be a laid-down process for helping migrant workers in distress in different cities of India,” said Asif Faruk, state general secretary of the Parijayi Sramik Aikya Manch (Migrant Workers Unity Forum). “The state government should help with treatment, bringing the bodies back and providing financial support to families.” For now, the immediate work has fallen to neighbours and local volunteers who have organized travel and paperwork and collected donations. Relatives said they were racing to complete formalities so the bodies could be repatriated and last rites performed. Beyond funeral costs, families face the longer-term loss of earnings and the question of who will support children and elderly dependants.
