HYDERABAD: The Telangana government on Monday informed the High Court that it has provided compensation to the lawful heirs of the 187 mining employees who died of Silico-tuberculosis, Silicosis, and other respiratory morbidities while working in quartz mines in Elkatta and Chowlapally villages in the former Mahabubnagar district, which are now in Ranga Reddy district.
A Division Bench led by Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice S Nanda on Monday was informed that the relief was provided under the Workmen Compensation Act, 1923 at the rate of Rs 2 lakh to kin of each worker who died.
The Division Bench was hearing the suo motu taken-up Public Interest Litigation, which was based on a news article that highlighted the suffering of women in the villages where deaths took place. The women who lost their husbands who were breadwinners due to silicosis, an occupational danger that kills a mining worker as they are constantly exposed to the dust emitted by the mines in Elkatta and Chowlapaly villages.
The Bench took notice of the State’s position that all lawful heirs of dead mining workers had been reimbursed in accordance with the law. After considering the State government’s argument, the Division Bench disposed of the PIL petition.