- Geetha, the widow of Sampath, along with her mother-in-law showing the cheque at Melvallam in Vellore on Friday | express
By J Shanmugha Sundaram
Published: 14th February 2015 06:05 AM
Last Updated: 14th February 2015
VELLORE: District Collector R Nanthagopal on Friday visited the family of the victim of the Ranipet tannery tragedy and handed over solatium of `7 lakh, two days after Express published a report that officials have turned their backs on them.
Accompanied by a team of revenue officials, the Collector called on Geetha, wife of the victim, Sampath, and his mother at their house in Melvallam near Kaniyambadi. He handed over the cheque for `seven lakh, which was given by the management of Ranipet SIDCO Finished Leather Effluent Treatment Company. The solatium of `three lakh from the State government is yet to be released. A senior revenue official said the amount would be released soon.
The Express report, published on February 11, highlighted how not a single official from the district administration had reached out to the kin of KG Sampath, who was the breadwinner of the family. He was one among the 10 workers of R K Leather Factory buried alive when hundreds of tonnes of toxic slurry flooded the company’s premises after an unauthorised Secure Land Fill (SFL) of the CETP of Ranipet SIDCO Finished Leather Effluent Treatment Company collapsed on January 31.
Thanking Express for the report, Geetha said Vellore Tahsildar and other officials visited them after the news was published. “I have requested the Collector to grant me a government job to support the family and raise my children. He has assured to take necessary action,” said Geetha, who has studied up to Class XII. She is now determined to continue her studies to get a government job. “My husband’s dream was to make our daughters a Collector and doctor, and our son a police officer. I will do all it takes to make that come true,” she added.
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