Families of seven Nepali migrant workers who died last week in a blaze in a Mumbai timber godown have complained that they have not got compensation from the concerned employers.

They have also taken exception to the lackadaisical approach the Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi has taken to facilitate the compensation process, saying the Nepali mission ‘has let us down’. With not a single penny in our hands to return home, we are left stranded in Mumbai, they said. 

Seven Nepali workers — all from Kapilvastu — had died in a fire that broke out in an illegally-run timber warehouse in Bhiwandi area of Mumbai at around 2:00am of December 28. Three others from Kapilvastu district managed to survive but have received burn injuries.

An organisation of Nepalis in Mumbai said relatives of the victims were assured of INR 90,000 as initial compensation by the operators of the warehouse, but they are yet to receive the amount. 

Shaligram Tiwari, president of United Nepali Organisation, Mumbai, said in a statement that the Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi had provided INR 35,000 for mourning and funeral rites, but the injured ones received nothing for their treatment. 

All the injured are undergoing treatment at a local government hospital in Mumbai.

“Condition of the three injured Nepalis is critical. Condition of Vinod Yadav, one of the injured, is deteriorating,” said Tiwari, wondering if anyone could come forward to help for their treatment on humanitarian ground.

Charge d’Affairs of the Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi said the mission had sent Ganesh Adhikari, a consular official, to Mumbai to acquire the bodies, perform final rites and take care of the injured. The embassy has also authorised Adhikari to hold talks with the proprietors of the warehouse on behalf of the victims’ families to expedite the compensation process. 

Representatives of Nepali associations in Mumbai, including Tiwari and Master Thapa, president of Nepali Shramik Majdoor Union (Bharat), have complained that the embassy official Adhikari was not much of help. He hardly supported the victims’ families, they said, adding he had returned to New Delhi, leaving the injured to languish in the hospital. 

They said the victims’ final rites were performed in Mumbai because their relatives did not have money to take the bodies to Nepal. According to Tiwari, victims’ relatives now are stranded in the vast city of Mumbai with no money with them. They are waiting for compensation, he said. 

“The expenses incurred on the diplomat’s visit were far more than the reliefs awarded to the relatives in total. No relief was given to the injured patients or their relatives,” the organisation said in a statement.

Earlier, the Indian authorities had assured that they would provide compensation to the victims’ families.

Embassy at fault?

While relatives of those who died in a Mumbai fire complain that the Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi failed to do the needful to get compensation for them, sources say this is not the first time that the mission has shown uncaring attitude towards Nepalis who face problems in India. 

Sources say relatives of those five Nepali migrant workers from Dang district, who died in January 2014 after a sudden collapse of a house they were building, also didn’t receive any compensation, largely due to the failure of the Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi to put due pressure on the concerned parties.

Published on: 8 January 2015 | The Himalayan Times