Judicial probe sought into Bhushan plant mishap

Leaders of four parties hand over memorandum to Governor

Senior leaders of four political parties on Monday met Governor S.C. Jamir at Raj Bhavan here and submitted a memorandum demanding judicial inquiry into the accident that occurred at Bhushan Steel Limited’s factory at Meramundali in Dhenkanal district on November 13 leaving two workers dead and 29 injured.

More than 100 workers of the steel plant were killed since BSL started acquiring land till commissioning of the projects in phases as the company violated laws pertaining to acquisition of tribal land, environment protection, industrial safety and labour, the parties alleged.

The leaders of the parties that handed over the memorandum include Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Forward Bloc, and Samajwadi Party.

Janardan Pati of the CPI(M), who was a member of the delegation, demanded that the steel plant should be shut down till safety norms were followed and other laws were implemented by the company authorities.

Alleging that the company owner and officials had destroyed documents to suppress the number of people killed in the blasts in the furnace-II of the plant on November 13, the leaders demanded that those persons should be arrested without further delay.

Demanding a judicial inquiry into all the deaths that occurred in the steel plant in the past, the leaders demanded payment of compensation of Rs. 20 lakh to the families of those killed and a job to the kin of the deceased workers.

Stringent action should also be taken against the officials belonging to different government departments who neglected in their duty to oversee the implementation of the steel project.

Congress demand

Meanwhile, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Jayadev Jena said that the Bhushan steel plant had become a death trap and had claimed as many as 118 lives since its inception.

Addressing a press conference at Congress Bhavan here, Mr. Jena alleged that the State government was not taking any action against the plant authorities despite the fact that they had violated various laws.