TINSUKIA, December 11: A horrific road accident in Hayuliang, Arunachal Pradesh has shaken the State. According to reports, around 9 am on Monday, December 8, a Punjab-body truck carrying about 22 labourers from Gelapukhuri Tea Estate under Tinsukia district left for Hayuliang in Arunachal Pradesh’s Anjaw district, where they were engaged in a construction project under a contractor. That very evening, near Meteliang on the Hayuliang–Chagalgam road, the truck skidded off the hilly road and plunged several hundred feet into a deep gorge.
Shockingly, the news of the accident, which occurred on Monday, December 8, came to light only by the evening of December 10. What is even more astonishing is that the accident surfaced solely because of the lone surviving labourer from the truck. According to available information, Budheswar Deep (23), a labourer from Line No. 13 of Gelapukhuri Tea Estate, who was grievously injured, somehow managed to crawl up from the deep gorge and reach the roadside by yesterday evening.
A local tribal youth, noticing the injured labourer groaning by the roadside, spoke to him and recorded a video. The youth later sent the video to another person, who uploaded it on social media, bringing the matter to light. Last evening, locals took the injured Budheswar to a nearby Army camp, following which the Army admitted him to the Tezu hospital. He has now been shifted to Assam Medical College and Hospital, Dibrugarh.
As the incident gained national attention, teams of the Indian Army reached the accident site this morning and launched a rescue operation. Senior officials of Arunachal and Assam Police, SDRF, NDRF teams, Anjaw district administration and Tinsukia district administration also arrived at the spot. The Army-led rescue operation has so far recovered 18 bodies. As darkness fell, the operation was suspended for the day and will resume tomorrow.
A tense and grief-stricken atmosphere now prevails at Gelapukhuri Tea Estate. Cries of mourning echo from house to house. According to reports, the 22 labourers belonged to Line No. 13 of the estate and had been sent to Hayuliang for a road construction project under a contractor named Chirajul from Hijuguri, Tinsukia. What has raised suspicion is that even after the labourers failed to reach the site for three days, the contractor did not inform the police.
According to a local source, the construction site is not accessible by large vehicles such as trucks. Only small vehicles like pick-ups can ply the extremely narrow and steep road. Locals have accused the contractor of endangering the labourers’ lives by sending them in a large Punjab-body truck on such a difficult route, pushing them to an early death. Questions have also been raised regarding the manner in which labourers were being transported for the construction work.
It may be recalled that Budheswar Deep, the only survivor, has said that all the others in the truck had died. Meanwhile, while contractor Chirajul reportedly took 22 workers from Gelapukhuri Tea Estate to Hayuliang, labourers of the estate have been able to identify only 19 persons so far. They are: Budheswar Deep, Rahul Kumar (25), Sameer Deep (22), Arjun Kumar (34), Pankaj Manki (20), Ajay Manki (30), Bijoy Kumar (36), Abhoy Bhumij (33), Rohit Manki (32), Brind Kumar (24), Agar Tanti (24), Dhiren Khariya (28), Rajani Nag (24), Deep Gowala (28), Ramcheeyak Sona (26), Sanayan Nag (36), Sanjay Kumar (36), Karan Kumar (20) and Jonash Munda (20).
On the other hand, workers in the estate claim that a total of 36 labourers travelled in the truck that day, of whom only 22 were from Gelapukhuri Tea Estate. The identities of the remaining labourers are still unclear, though sources claim they are from areas such as Panitola and Chabua. Only if contractor Chirajul is detained will the complete details emerge, locals argue.
If indeed 36 labourers were on the truck, the death toll may rise further. While Gelapukhuri Tea Estate has confirmed 19 labourers so far, there is no trace of the remaining three.
This tragic accident has shaken both states—Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
