Bisuni Juanga, 56, is illiterate. But sitting outside his mud house in a remote tribal village, he pores intently over a stack of official papers, seeking answers as to how his 16-year-old daughter died at a seafood processing unit in Tamil Nadu, nearly 1,500 km away.
Of the 15 who have died since the June 21 gas leak at the factory, in Tiruvallur district of the southern state, 12 were from Odisha, all belonging to Keonjhar district, and all of them women. Of the dead, two belonged to Rangamatia, including Bisuni’s daughter Jamini Juanga.
Of the 68 hospitalised, 65 are women; all the five who are critical and on ventilator support belong to Rangamatia.
A tribal hamlet with a population of a little over 200, Rangamatia had at least 10 of its women and 8 men employed at the seafood unit — making the gas leak one of the worst tragedies to have hit the village.
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel arrive at a seafood export unit following an ammonia gas leak, in Manjangaranai, Thiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu. (Source: PTI Photo)
Says Bisuni: “Some officials from the block visited our house, handed over Jamini’s body, and informed us she died due to ‘gas’… I don’t know what that means… She was just 16, and had a full life to live.”
Jamini, who had studied until Class 5, was the third of Bisuni’s four daughters. The elder ones, 21 and 19, are married, while the fourth is 14. Jamini went to Tamil Nadu a little over seven months ago, the first member of the family to travel outside Keonjhar. Mostly, they only go to the homes of the married daughters in nearby villages, says Bisuni.
After Jamini left, they had no contact with her, the family says. Until last year, the village had no mobile connectivity; now BSNL is available. But, Bisuni can barely afford one. Juangas like him are part of a particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG), and Bisuni has long struggled with poverty. His only possessions are two goats and the mud house, separated into two enclosures.
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With no farmland of their own, tribals in the village clear patches of forest to cultivate crops and depend on forest produce.
The 2011 Census put Rangamatia’s numbers at 38 households and 158 people. Located in a hilly terrain with poor road connectivity, it has no drinking water and electricity. A small spring from a nearby forest is the only source of drinking water. There is an anganwadi and a school till the primary level.
Villagers, particularly girls such as Jamini, don’t study beyond Class 5. The nearest high school is 10 km away, too far due to both financial constraints and lack of transport facilities. The nearest motorable road is officially 1 km away, but is on the other side of a hill. The nearest hospital is in Harichandpur town, about 40 km away.
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel arrive at a seafood export unit following an ammonia gas leak, in Manjangaranai, Thiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu. (PTI Photo)
“We can’t even travel to nearby markets or towns in search of jobs,” says Bisuni. So it was understood that when she could, Jamini would migrate to sustain her family, like other youngsters here, he says, adding he is not even sure what wages Jamini was promised.
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Most of the girls and women who work outside the village are not married. Once they are wed, it is the men who leave.
The Odisha government initially announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh for the family members of the victims, which was later enhanced to Rs 10 lakh. But Bisuni claims all he has received so far is Rs 3,000 from the panchayat to conduct her funeral.
Gumani Juanga, the second casualty from Rangamatia, was 15 as per her Aadhaar card; her parents, who were looking for a groom for her, say she was 19. She left for Tamil Nadu last November. She was part of a group of workers, including her elder brother, who were told they would work in seafood processing units. The brother, Parsu, 20, was placed at a unit in Andhra Pradesh.
Gumani’s father Bira Juanga, 53, says he had been reluctant to send her so far. “But Gumani was not ready for marriage. Also, she was lured by promises of money and a better lifestyle, and insisted on going.”
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Gumani had been in regular contact with them over the phone, Bira says, their last conversation being just hours before the gas leak. She told them she had saved some money and would come home soon.
As soon as they heard of the gas leak and that Gumani was critical, they hired a vehicle and left, says Bira. They had reached Bhubaneswar when their son called. “Parsu urged us to return home saying it was not easy to get to where Gumani worked. We returned, hoping against hope, but then the worst was confirmed,” says Bira.
The 53-year-old, who has built a two-room house under the rural housing scheme, and owns some goats, says he won’t let Parsu to migrate for work now. “I can’t lose my only remaining child.”
Bira also lashes out at “the well-organised network” luring tribal youths like his daughter, naming Srikanta Junaga from their village. “He claimed he worked as a supervisor at a seafood unit in Tamil Nadu, and persuaded others to join him there.”
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Keonjhar district labour officer Akash Bisoyi said Srikanta is “absconding”. “We will take legal action against him,” he told The Indian Express.
The Keonjhar district labour office has no official data on tribal migrant numbers from interior pockets. Unofficially, hundreds are believed to be working outside the state.
After the Tamil Nadu deaths, the Odisha Labour Department facilitated the return of 58 migrant workers from Tamil Nadu, a majority of them from Keonjhar district.
Keonjhar District Collector Vishal Singh told The Indian Express: “The district administration is verifying whether the Juanga men and women went willingly or were lured by someone into forced migration, as alleged by a section.”
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From Rangamatia, at least 40 young men and women (or one-fifth of the total population) are currently working outside, leaving behind a village with elderly and children in significant numbers.
Fertile ground
Given its backwardness, Keonjhar has long been a fertile ground for labour contractors. An official requesting anonymity said: “They prefer youths as they are willing to take lower wages. Many of those who died in the mishap were earning around Rs 8,000 per month; with a little experience, they can command Rs 12,000.”
Once a tribal has gained some “experience”, he or she becomes a conduit for labour contractors to bring in others.
Back in 1978, the state government launched a Juanga Development Agency, for the uplift of the community in Keonjhar, Jajpur and Dhenkanal districts via interventions like agriculture and livelihood support, habitat rights and basic facilities.
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But, local leader Sukru Juanga says: “These projects exist more on pen and paper than on the ground.”
Umi Daniel, an expert on migration and climate studies, says the trend among Juangas to leave homes for work is a new, “concerning” trend. “The natural resources on which the Juangas primarily depend are depleting, even as their youths lack skills, making them an easy target for exploitation.”
Rangamatia’s wait
The 18 from the hamlet working at the Tamil Nadu seafood unit that saw the gas leak had left in November, after completion of Kali Puja. For all, it was their first trip to the state and, family members say, they were told they would be back home for ‘Raja’, a famous agrarian festival in the region. The festival came and went in mid-June, but none of them returned.
Among the critically injured is Ailla Juanga, 20. Her parents say she migrated to support her two younger brothers to continue their studies, as she had to herself stop after Class 5.
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Says Ailla’s mother Hira: “We heard that she is serious, but we don’t know anything else. We request the government to bring her home safely.”
Gura Juanga’s son Sumanta and his new bride Sima, as well as Gura’s daughter Chanchala, all went to work at the seafood unit. While Sumanta and the daughter are fine, Sima is critical. Sumanta incidentally was among the workers brought back after the incident by the Odisha government, and then sent again to Chennai along with two others to be with their hospitalised kin.
“They left hoping to make a better life for their children. Ebe kan heba mu janiparuni (What will happen now, I have no idea),” says Gura.