14 Odisha tribal girls die in Tamil Nadu gas leak, exposing migrant labour vulnerability

When the MGR Chennai Central–Bhubaneswar Superfast Express pulled into Bhubaneswar railway station on the morning of June 27, Sari Juang, along with her two younger sisters, had just returned from a deadly workplace incident. The over 1,500-kilometre journey back to Odisha followed a catastrophic ammonia gas leak at a seafood processing plant in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvallur district on June 21.

Sari and her sisters Sasmita and Ratni were among the witnesses to the tragedy that killed 17 migrant workers, mostly women and minor girls from Odisha. Of the deceased, 14 were from Odisha — all teenagers belonging to the Juang tribal community — two from Assam, and one from Jharkhand. Several workers remain hospitalised.

According to survivor accounts, the gas leak occurred outside the workers' residential quarters at night, exposing them to toxic fumes while they slept. Initial investigations revealed that labour contractors specifically targeted women and minor girls from the Juang community — a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) — offering steady income and advance payments to their families as incentives.

By the time Sari reached her village, Kodipasa in Banspal block of Keonjhar district, two of her closest friends had already been cremated. The Juang community lives in scattered hamlets across the hill districts of Keonjhar, Angul and Dhenkanal, surviving on shifting cultivation and forest produce. Migration for work was rare until recently.

“Because of low literacy and non-exposure to the outside world, Juangs are not familiar with migration,” said an official from the Tribal Welfare Department. Yet at least 20 girls from Kodipasa — three more are on ventilator support in Tamil Nadu — made the journey south, drawn by the promise of ₹15,000 per month per worker.

“What choice did we have?” Sari asked. “We are four sisters and two brothers. Our father died years ago. Whatever little our mother earns is not enough to feed all of us. Beyond subsidised rice [from the public distribution system], we have nothing.” The sisters, all aged 18 or below, had gone to Tamil Nadu to earn enough to build a liveable home in Kodipasa.

Keonjhar is also the home district of Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Majhi, whose government announced an ex gratia of ₹10 lakh for each deceased worker's family. A little away from Sari’s home, Basang Juang, 50, pointed to a newly laid tin roof funded by ₹9,000 sent home by her daughter Phulamani, 18, one of the first five Juang girls killed.

“My daughter used to travel 10 km every day to Keonjhar town to work as a construction labourer. Even that work was irregular. So, she chose to travel to Tamil Nadu,” said Basang. Two huts away lived Sujani Juanga, in her mid-teens. Her family includes an alcoholic brother, an intellectually challenged sister, and another sister who returned home after marriage. Their mother earns a living working odd jobs. Before she succumbed to the ammonia leak, Sujani had sent home ₹4,000 in two instalments.

The Juang community’s poverty and distinct cultural practices led to its classification as a PVTG. The Juang Development Agency (JDA) was established at Gonasika in Keonjhar in 1978 to serve 5,490 people across 32 habitations, including Kodipasa. Nearly five decades later, infrastructure has improved — blacktopped roads reach Kodipasa now — but socioeconomic conditions remain largely unchanged.