Gas leak tragedy: Teen from Odisha hamlet dies 1,500 km away at Tamil Nadu factory
Bisuni Juanga, 56, sits outside his mud house in Rangamatia, a remote tribal hamlet in Odisha's Keonjhar district. He cannot read or write, but he pores over official papers, desperate for answers. His 16-year-old daughter Jamini died in a gas leak at a seafood processing unit in Tamil Nadu's Tiruvallur district, nearly 1,500 km from home.
The ammonia gas leak on June 21 killed 15 people at the factory. Among the dead, 12 were from Odisha, all women from Keonjhar district. Jamini was one of two victims from Rangamatia, a hamlet of just over 200 people. Of the 68 hospitalised, 65 are women; all five critical patients on ventilators are from Rangamatia.
Jamini had studied until Class 5 and was the third of four daughters. She left for Tamil Nadu seven months ago, the first in her family to venture beyond Keonjhar. Her father says they had no contact with her after she left. Until last year, the village had no mobile connectivity; now BSNL is available, but Bisuni cannot afford a phone.
The Juangas are a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG). Bisuni has no farmland and owns only two goats and a mud house. The village, with 38 households per the 2011 Census, lacks drinking water, electricity, and proper roads. A spring in the forest is the only water source. Girls like Jamini rarely study beyond Class 5; the nearest high school is 10 km away, and the nearest hospital is 40 km distant.
Like many young people in Rangamatia, Jamini migrated to support her family. Bisuni is unsure of the wages she was promised. The Odisha government initially announced Rs 4 lakh ex gratia, later raised to Rs 10 lakh. Bisuni says he has only received Rs 3,000 from the panchayat.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) responded to the gas leak. The incident highlights the vulnerabilities of migrant workers from remote tribal areas, who often work in hazardous conditions far from home with little support.
