Chennai building collapse
Berhampur: Landless Gobardhan Swain went to Chennai to shore up his family income, but fate had willed it otherwise.
His body was identified by relatives at a Chennai hospital on Sunday.
The body is expected to reach Badapalli village in Ganjam district shortly.
45-year-old Gobardhan was among eight workers from the state, who died in the Chennai building collapse on June 28.
His wife Runu Swain (40) with two daughters is now left to fend for herself as Gobardhan was the sole breadwinner.
“He went to Chennai, to earn more. After his untimely death, how can I maintain the family now?” asked an inconsolable Runu.
Gobardhan used to also look after his 70-year-old mother. “We had high hopes that my father will be alive as his body was not found till Saturday. But our hopes were shattered when our uncle telephoned us after identifying his body,” said his 14-year-old daughter Sandhya.
On the day the building collapsed, Gobardhan had telephoned his family members to inform that he would be home in the first week of July.
That happened to be his last call, said Runu as tears welled up in her eyes. Landless Gobardhan had gone to Chennai along with Maguni Pahan, 50.
Both were working in that ill-fated building. Later, Pahan’s body was pulled out from the rubble.
“After getting all documents in support of their deaths due to the building collapse, we will file a case against the building owner, demanding compensation for kin of the deceased,” advocate Kapil Panda said.
“We are also planning to lodge a case against the owner from our side after scrutiny of the documents,” said assistant labour commissioner (Berhampur) Nilambar Mishal.
While Odisha government has announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the family of each deceased, Tamil Nadu government has declared Rs 2 lakh to every family, official sources said. (PTI)