KRISHNAGIRI: The July 29 blast in Palayapettai, which claimed nine lives and left 13 persons injured, not only brought down several buildings, but has also shattered the dreams of families as they lost their breadwinners.
Among the nine victims was C Sivaraj (22) of Billanakuppam. Sivaraj had studied a diploma course and was working in a tamarind mandi at Krishnagiri for a salary of Rs 18,000. On the day of the incident, he was returning to work from a relative’s house at Kattinayanapalli passing through a firecracker explosion in his motorcycle. Numbed by the loss of their elder son, parents Chinnasamy and mother Poonkodi said they will find the going tough from here on. His 18- year- old brother did not pursue education after Class 10, and the family owns less than one acre of farmland.
Murugesan (46), who lost his wife of 10 years Sarasu (35), said that he does not know how he would cope with the loss. She was working as a casual labourer in the packaged drinking water factory that crumbled in the blast. Eyes moist, Murugesan recalled that they had their first and only child 10 years after marriage. Their daughter turned nine on Sunday (August 6). Three years ago, the couple was allotted a house under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) and construction work will be completed in three months. Murugesan, who lost one of his toes due to diabetes recently, owns a small commercial vehicle, but the vehicle was badly damaged in the accident.
B Rajeswari (48) was busy making arrangements for the day in her small eatery when the explosion took down the place. Her husband Balamurugan and children escaped as they were not in the shop. The couple used to run a hotel in front of the Krishnagiri district headquarters hospital. They relocated to shifted to Bolupalli near Kurubarapalli when the hospital was expanded and upgraded as a medical college.
Murugesan said business was bad there following which they took a loan and shifted to Palayapettai last year. As debt mounted, the family sold its house and moved into a rented house. The couple’s son Sathish Kumar (30), joined a textile company at Bengaluru recently. S Imran (20) of Kottai Street took up work after Class 12, to support his family.
He died when he was working in a welding shop next to the cracker shop. His father is a cook and gets regular work only during festival seasons. Imran’s younger brother is 13- year- old. The families of M Ravi (46), the owner of the firecracker shop who died along with his son Ruthish (20) and daughter Ruthika (19), V James (19) who worked in a packaged drinking water factory near the cracker shop, and S Ibrahim Kaleelulla (21), who was working in a welding shop also share a similar story of uncertain future and look up to the government for assistance.