At least one person was killed, 40 others injured and several feared trapped, when Blast Furnace-2 of Slag Pit area of the Bhushan Steel plant in Mehramandali in Dhenkanal district exploded and later caught fire at the time of its commissioning on Wednesday.
As many as 11 persons were seriously injured and were shifted to the SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack. The total Slag Pit area was under inferno spitting hot metals all around.
On the direction of the State Government, a high-level committee headed by Safety of Factory and Boiler Directorate Deputy Director Dr NK Pradhan rushed to the spot and imposed an prohibition order on operation of the blast furnace.
Dr Pradhan said, “Adequate precaution should have been taken at the time of commissioning of the blast furnace by the Bhushan.”
While Dhenkanal district Collector Ruparoshan Sahu rushed to the spot, efforts were stepped up to control the fire and rescue the victims. Almost all the workers and employees had left the plant in view of the prevailing tension there.
Meanwhile, hundreds of workers and public blocked the NH 55 near the plant, demanding stringent action against plant authority. Various workers’ unions staged demonstrations in front of the plant demanding stringent punishment against the top brass of the plant. Massive police deployment was made to maintain law and order situation.
Talking to The Pioneer, Bhushan Steel Shramik Sabha, an affiliated body to the Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), vice-president Aren Pani demanded that the managing director of the Bhushan Steel should be arrested immediately and criminal proceeding should be initiated against him for serious safety lapses in the plant.
He also demanded the resignation of the State labour Minister for not being able to fulfil his promise of setting up a special committee to look into the continuous accidents in the plant.
“During the last major fire accident in the plant in January last, the labour Minister had promised to conduct a safety audit of the plant through a third party agency, but that did not translate to practice even after several months. It means the Bhushan plant authorities and the State Government are in nexus and despite regular accidents in the plant, no action has been taken against the offender,” said Pani, accusing also the State Pollution Control Board and other stakeholders of ignoring the serious safety breaches in the unit.
Notably, at least 52 workers have died and many others were injured due to frequent accidents in last four years in the Bhushan plant in Dhenkanal.