CPI(M) demanded that the Government order an open probe by a Supreme Court judge into the August 23 blast and fire at the HPCL’s expansion area in which 23 were killed and many others were undergoing treatment here and in Mumbai with severe burns.
The high-level committee constituted by the HPCL should conduct a public inquiry and also the reasons for the accident, party State secretariat member Ch. Narasinga Rao demanded at a press conference here on Monday.
A probe by a Supreme Court Judge alone would reveal the facts, and those found responsible must be prosecuted under criminal sections of the law and punished, he said.
There was also no clarity on the help to be extended by the management to the families of the deceased and critically injured, he alleged. The CPI(M) leader also said the Rs. 1 crore compensation promised to the family of Ch. Murali and officer and the only HPCL employee killed in the accident was only a part of the benefits the it would get as gratuity, PF, insurance, etc. and hence the management must pay the compensation promised.
Member of city secretariat of the party M. Jaggu Naidu said the accident at the HPCL revealed that there was a threat to the industries around it and the city itself. City secretary demanded that the safety measures being taken now must be made known to public.
