Legal heirs of 187 deceased mining workers paid compensation, govt tells Telangana High Court

Hyderabad: The State government on Monday informed the division bench of the Telangana High Court, headed by Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Surepally Nanda, that it has paid compensation to the legal heirs of the 187 deceased mining workers, who succumbed to "SILICAS and Silico tuberculosis".

They died while working in the quartz mines at Elkatta and Chowlapally villages of erstwhile Mahbubnagar district (now RR district).

Each legal heir of the deceased workers has been paid compensation @ Rs.1 lakh and Rs.2 lakh per workman under the Workmen Compensation Act, 1923.

The bench was adjudicating the suo motu taken up converting the news item which appeared in an English daily highlighting the plight of women living in erstwhile Mahbubnagar district.

The women lost their husbands due to 'SILICAS' an occupational hazard (which kills mining workers slowly as they are continuously exposed to dust which emanates from mines) in the two villages.

After the plight of women was widely reported the HC took up the issue and directed the State government to pay compensation to the kith and kin of the deceased workers without waiting for its orders,working in coordination with the Telangana State Mineral Development Corporation and the member-secretary, State Legal Services Authority.

The bench took note of the State's contention that all the legal heirs of deceased workers were compensated, as per the law.

A committee was constituted by the State Legal Services Authority under the supervision of a retired district judge. It gave a final report on March 31, 2020. As per report, 187 eligible legal heirs have been paid.

The CJ bench, after taking the State's contention into consideration, "disposed" of the PIL.