J’khand migrant dies in Maha accident

Ranchi/Mumbai: Three migrant labourers, one from Jharkhand’s Palamu district, and a bus driver were killed in a road accident in Solapur on Tuesday after the vehicle they were travelling in rammed into a stationary truck in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra in the wee hours of Tuesday. The two other deceased were migrants from Chhattisgarh.
Police said 22 others were injured in the accident which took place when the migrants, hailing from Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, were travelling towards Nagpur railway station to board Shramik Special trains. Out of the 22, 18 are from Jharkhand with 10 from Palamu and eight others from Garhwa districts.
Expressing grief, chief minister Hemant Soren requested the Maharashtra government to provide all necessary assistance to the injured. He also asked the state co-ordinator for Maharashtra to get in touch with the Solapur administration for proper return of the body of the deceased and the injured persons. This is the second such incident in a week’s time where migrants from Jharkhand died while on their way home from other states. Earlier, 11 migrants from Bokaro died in Uttar Pradesh’s Auraiya district after a trailer rammed into a truck.
On Tuesday, additional superintendent of police (Solapur) Noorul Hasan said, “The accident took place at Kolwan village around 3.30am when the bus was on its way to Nagpur railway station where the labourers were supposed to board a Shramik Special train.”
“The driver of the bus lost control over the wheels, following which, the vehicle hit a stationary truck which was carrying road construction material,” said Hasan.
A police officer said, “Earlier, nearly 28 migrant labourers had set off on foot for their native places in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand and were stopped at Solapur on Monday.” The tehsildar (revenue officer) of North Solapur requested the state transport depot manager to facilitate transportation of the labourers, following which, a bus was arranged for them, the officer added.
“On the request of the labourers, the bus was supposed to drop them at the Nagpur railway station in Maharashtra,” the officer said.
State finance minister Rameshwar Oraon said he has demanded the government to give Rs 4 lakh as compensation to the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to those injured. “I have appealed to the CM to announce a financial help for the the victim’s family.” Oraon, who is also the state Congress president, said he has also asked party workers to extend all possible help to the family members of the dead and the injured.
Congress spokesperson Lal Kishore Nath Shahdeo said, “A five-member team will soon visit their (the dead and injured migrants) homes to extend initial help in form of ration and other necessities.” with agency inputs