Shillong: The Meghalaya government blocked state disaster payouts for the families of five men who died from carbon monoxide poisoning in Lapalang. Officials labeled the Friday evening incident a workplace accident, stripping it of disaster status.
Three workers died trapped in a Dongmadan water reservoir. Two men from Smit and Nongrah died trying to pull them out. The State Disaster Response Fund excludes toxic fume deaths from its mandate. New Delhi rules restrict that money to natural calamities like floods or earthquakes.
A senior official confirmed the families get nothing from the fund. The state claims it must follow rigid guidelines set by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Bureaucrats pointed toward the Employees Compensation Act, 1923, as a potential path for relief if the victims prove negligence at a private site.
The government might look at the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund as an alternative. Officials said the state “may” examine the possibility of helping as an “exceptional humanitarian case” rather than taking responsibility. For now, the families face a wall of red tape.
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