4 yrs on, Bowenpally crash victims wait for ex gratia

Four years after the horrific plane crash at Bowenpally during the air show on March 3, 2010, 64-year-old Ramesh Kumar and his family members, whose house was destroyed in the crash, are still waiting for compensation from the government.

Having incurred a loss of `35 lakh, the family struggled to pay back the huge sum. Shocked by the approval for the air show again this year, Mr Ramesh Kumar asks why it was organised yet again in a densely populated area.

Having run from pillar to post and writing to every possible authority, he helplessly awaits the government acknowledgement of his loss. The house was the one in which Mr Kumar was born. His children are now married and settled in the United States.

“I have written to and met every official possible. Right from the local corporator to the President of India, to defence officials as well as Naval commandos. The then Chief Minister had directed the collector to conduct an enquiry, who then ordered the Roads and Buildings Department to inspect my home and make an estimate of the loss. They gave a figure of `35 lakh. This report was sent to the special secretary after which the file has not moved. All this running around took eight months and the inspection part nearly six months,” he says.

Recalling the day, Mr Kumar says, “My wife was at home when the crash took place. My three-stored house, with four flats each on first and second floor, and a penthouse on the top floor came crashing down. As a result my wife is now hearing impaired in her right ear,” he said. The aircraft crashed into the second floor of his building.