2 more Andhra workers commit suicide for want of work; Opposition blames it on sand crisis

So far, six construction workers have killed themselves in the last one month in Guntur district. Opposition parties in the state have said the YSR Congress government is responsible for the suicides of the labourers.

Two more construction workers allegedly committed suicide in the last 24 hours in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur district over lack of work after a severe shortage of sand and the resultant slump in construction activity.

So far, six construction workers have killed themselves in the last one month in Guntur district. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

So far, six construction workers have killed themselves in the last one month in Guntur district. Opposition parties in the state have said the YSR Congress government is responsible for the suicides of the labourers.

Gurram Nagaraju, a 35-year-old mason from Vundavalli village of Tadepalli block, hanged himself with his wife’s sari at his home on Saturday morning.

A father of two daughters, Nagaraju had been jobless for the last four months due to the lack of construction activity in the Amaravati capital region.

“He was frustrated and used to quarrel with family members every day,” his wife Gurram Vani, who works as a domestic help in a local apartment, said while speaking to reporters.

When contacted, Tadepalli inspector of police Ankam Rao said Nagaraju had been a habitual drunkard and troubling his wife for money.

“He had not been doing any work for quite some time and had been depending on his wife’s earnings,” Rao said.

Adapa Ravi, 30, another construction worker from Ponnur town in Guntur district also allegedly committed suicide by consuming pesticide early on Saturday.

Former Telugu Desam Party (TDP) lawmaker from Ponnur, D Narendra Kumar, who visited his house, attributed Ravi’s death to the lack of work for the last few months due to sand crisis in the state.

Kumar blamed the state government for the suicides.

Ponnur town circle inspector Premaiah, however, said preliminary inquiries revealed that Ravi had committed suicide due to family disputes.

“We have not registered any case yet,” he said.

Before this, Nagur Vali, a mason from Vejendla village of Guntur district, died in the Guntur government hospital on October 31, six days after he consumed pesticide.

His family members said he had not been paid wages by the builder due to stalling of construction activity in the district.

Two other construction supervisors Naga Brahmaji of Tenali and P Venkata Rao of Mangalagiri, both in Guntur district, allegedly committed suicide by hanging themselves at their respective houses on October 25.

Polepalli Venkatesh from Gorantla village in Guntur district had also committed suicide by hanging himself to the ceiling fan on October 2.

His family members suspected that he might have taken his life due to financial troubles and the Nallapadu police registered a case of suicide after getting an autopsy done.

TDP president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday expressed his anguish over the spate of suicides by construction workers.

“Another day, another construction worker has ended his life… and the YSRC government continues to mock the dead! How many more death knells to wake them up from slumber (sic)?” Naidu tweeted.

Meanwhile, actor-turned-politician and Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan has announced it will hold a “long march” in Visakhapatnam on Sunday highlighting the failure of the YSR Congress government in addressing the sand crisis in the state.

As part of the agitation, named ’Sand Satyagraha’ for which the Visakhapatnam police have given its permission, Pawan will take out a rally with thousands of party workers in the city.

All the opposition parties, including the TDP and the Bharatiya Janata Party, extended their solidarity with Pawan Kalyan.

Andhra Pradesh irrigation minister Anil Kumar Yadav rubbished the allegations of the opposition parties and said Pawan Kalyan’s march was under the direction of Chandrababu Naidu.

Yadav admitted that there was a sand scarcity in the state but it was due to floods in rivers.

“This has resulted in a gap between demand and supply. The government has taken the required measures to overcome the problem and introduced a temporary three-month sand policy to mine sand from identified reaches at rivers, lakes, and canals and also from patta lands,” he said.