A bout of rain that occurred in Teelair village and its surroundings on Tuesday night is stated to have proved fatal for the 10 women who were buried alive when they went to work under NREGS on Wednesday.
“A portion of the hillock at its feet was dug up with proclains (excavators) by some villagers of Pusalpad, a nearby village of Teelair, for their house construction needs. The top soil of the hillock at its feet has good quality loose soil for a depth of up to 5 or 6 feet and from there it’s all gravel. The overnight rain made it loosen up further and caved in when the women were sitting in the shade,” Venkatanna, a villager of Teelair, said when asked about the incident.
Of the 12 women who were sitting, three moved out moments before the soil caved, in but one of the them was unfortunate as she did not go beyond a couple of yards. A proclain was pressed into service to unearth bodies and it took almost two hours to bring all the 10 bodies out. The condition of one Laxmi, who escaped with serious injuries, was stated to be still serious at Mahabubnagar Government Hospital, where she was taken from Narayanpet after initial treatment.
Meanwhile, the district authorities have assured ₹5 lakh of ex gratia each to families of all victims, double-bedroom houses, residential school education to children and one outsourced job to an eligible family member of every victim family. The assurance was given following the villagers’ protest with the bodies on the Mahabubnagar-Narayanpet road till 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday.