With four more injured workers succumbing to burns, the death toll in the sugar factory boiler explosion at Markumbi in Bailhongal taluk, Belagavi district, reached seven on Thursday. Family members of the deceased worker, along with farmers, staged a protest at Channamma Circle in the town, demanding compensation of Rs 1 crore for employees who lost their lives after boiling sugarcane juice spilled on them during the replacement of valves of Actuated Valve Control Packages (AVCP) at compartment-1 of Inamdar Sugars in Markumbi village of Bailhongal taluk.
The agitation was called off after the factory management announced an initial compensation of Rs 20 lakh. The protest erupted when the mortal remains of Manjunath Madiwalappa Kajgar (28), a resident of Aravalli village in Bailhongal taluk, were brought to the town. Farmers and family members intercepted the vehicle carrying the body at Channamma Circle and began protesting.
Karnataka Rajya Rait Sanga president Chunappa Pujeri demanded that the sugar factory pay Rs 1 crore as compensation to the families of each deceased worker and called for the arrest of the factory’s management board members. He said the organisation had rejected the Rs 15 lakh compensation earlier offered by the management.
Protesters raised slogans against the sugar factory management and insisted that company officials come to the protest site to announce the compensation amount. The victim’s father, Madiwalappa Kajgar, held the factory responsible for his son’s death, saying the family had lost its breadwinner. “My son left for work and returned as a dead body,” he said.
Inamdar Sugars Managing Director Ravindra Pattanshetti arrived at the spot to hold discussions with farmer leaders, but they remained firm on their demand that top management officials be present and that compensation of Rs 1 crore be paid to each affected family. Tahsildar Hanmant Shirhatti also attempted to defuse the situation, but the protesters did not relent.
The protesters were later informed that the factory would release Rs 20 lakh as the first instalment of compensation and that the management would visit the bereaved families to announce additional assistance. Pujeri said police officials had taken responsibility for ensuring that the promised compensation was delivered, warning that if the assurance was not honoured, farmers would stage a protest in front of the factory and lock it. Following this, the body of Manjunath was taken for the last rites.
