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Kali hati Tragedy

Future of 14 families now uncertain as bread earners are dead

Mirza Shaku., Tangail
The family members of the 14 weavers who were killed in a tragic accident inTangailon April 16 have demanded proper compensation from the government as most of the small handloom factories run by the weavers remain closed since the incident.
Demanding exemplary punishment of the persons responsible for the accident, they said now they are passing their days in uncertainty after losing the bread earners of their families.
At least 17 people including 14 weavers of Kalihati upazila in Tangail were killed and 25 others injured as an intercity train rammed a passenger bus on the Elanga Razabari level crossing on Tangail-Mymensingh road on April 16.
The weavers were on their way to a weekly fair at Karaita in Tangail. Of the 14 weavers, 10 were from Rampur village while the rest were from Mominnagar village in Kalihati upazila.
Most of the small handloom factories run by the weavers at Rampur and Mominnagar villages remain closed since the tragic accident.
Ambia Begum, 45, wife of dead
weaver Solaiman of Rampur village, told The Daily Star that her husband's handloom factory remains closed, as all seven employees of the factory did not join work since the incident apprehending that they would not be paid timely in Solaiman's absence.
“It is not possible for me to run the factory in the absence of my husband. I have two daughters and a young son,” she added.
Fatema Begum, 28, wife of deceased weaver Faruque Mia of the same village, said her husband had to lend several lakh taka from moneylenders and NGOs a few months back to repair his handloom factory badlydamagedintheflood.
After her husband's death, the moneylenders are putting pressure on her to repay the loans, she said.
“Now what shall I do...I have two daughters," Fatema said.
Another dead weaver Dudu Mia's wife Rushmida Begum, 25, said she is now worried about repaying a loan of Tk 70,000 her husband had taken from yam traders.
She said the future of her two young sons is uncertain, as her husband was the lone breadwinner of the family.
"I want proper compensation and also punishment of the persons responsible for my husband's death,” she added.
Lal Mahmud, uncle of dead weaver Altaf of Mominnagar village, said the government should provide proper compensation to the family members of all the victims as the tragic accident has rendered them helpless.
Balla No-2 Ward Weavers' Association President Jinnat Ali, 60, also a member of Balla Union Parishad, told The Daily Star that most of the dead weavers owned small handloom factories with 5 to 10 handlooms and they had established the factories borrowing money from moneylendersand NGOs.
“The authorities concerned should provide proper compensation to the family members of the victims considering their poor condition," he added.
Tangail Deputy Commissioner (DO Akhter Ali Sarkar visited the family members of the victims at Rampur village and gaveTk 15,000 to deceased weaver Solaiman's wife Ambia Begum, and Tk 10,000 to Janu Begum, wife of deceased weaver Dulal.
The families of the other 12 deceased weavers did not get any compensation from the district administration, said Balla Union Parishad Chairman Kamruzzaman Aslam.
However, Badal of Kalihati upazila, a Bangladeshi expatriate in Malaysia, gave Tk 10,000 to each family of the deceased and Tk 5,000 and Tk 3,000 to each of the injured, he said.
“But it's not enough to save the small handloom factories," he added.