Twelve years after the Dilsukhnagar blasts, survivors still struggle with pain, loss, and broken promises. Many lost their hearing, limbs, or shops, and despite early promises of help, most say they received nothing and are still trying to rebuild their lives.
‘Lost my hearing, shop’
PRamakrishna (73) was at his bangle store when the fi rst blast ripped through Dilsukhnagar 12 years ago. His shop was a few meters away from where the bomb was planted.
On Tuesday, he recalled how moments after that he felt a shooting pain in his right ear. Metal pieces had pierced through it leaving him straddled with hearing loss. “There was blood all over…my clothes were soaked.
Around me I saw people drenched in blood running helter-skelter for help. My shop was in ruins,” said Ramakrishna, still struggling to come to terms with the loss. “I was in the middle of preparing for my son’s marriage. But the blast took away everything.
I had to borrow a lot of money to restore the shop and fund the wedding,” he shared. So, while Ramakrishna is glad the perpetrators have been punished, he is also upset that his life hasn’t changed for the better. “There was a sea of visitors, including the then CM, who visited us after the blasts and promised us financial aid.
But all these years later, we’ve got nothing,” he said. “Even after running around every govt office, meeting ministers and MLAs, all I have got is humiliation. Now, I have given up. I don’t want anything from anyone. I just want to live in peace,” said Ramakrishna.

‘Still struggle to walk’
Nails and metal pieces got stuck in Krishnakanth Waghmare’s left leg. While a surgery thereafter helped him get off the bed, the now 43-year-old still struggles to walk. The blast sound has affected his hearing too. Yet, on Tuesday, the street vendor was seen selling watches close to where he was injured 12 years ago. “I cannot do any other job because of my physical limitations. Though I had requested officials to sanction a loan, it was turned down…,” said Waghmare.
‘My helper lost his finger’
Mallikarjun Madapalli had a near-death experience while he was selling fruits close to the blast site. He says he can never forget how the place looked on Feb 21, 2013. “I could only see blood everywhere. While I, fortunately, escaped with minor injuries, my helper Ashok lost a finger,” said Madapalli. “After the incident, Ashok left the place and went to work somewhere else. If the govt can provide us with some financial assistance, we could bounce back quickly,” the vendor added.
‘Glad students are safe’
Flashes from that ill-fated evening still haunt English teacher Pallegoni Kishore Goud, every time he walks into the classroom located in the same building in Dilsukhnagar where he taught in 2013. He is just glad that all his students escaped unharmed that day. “I was taking a grammar class for 200 students when a thunderous blast jolted us. We ran to the window of our second-floor classroom to see what had happened.
I could see the fi re spreading fast…it was all around the building, blocking its entrance. We were trapped,” said Goud on Tuesday – still shaken by the recollection. With no other option at hand, the teacher helped his students climb down the wall, to reach the ground floor.
While his students managed to get out safe, Goud fell off the second floor and fractured his leg. “I received some financial help from the govt and now everything is normal. I have nothing much to say about what happened except be grateful that my students did not face any adversity,” said the teacher.