The Odisha Vikash Parishad (OVP) on Thursday staged a demonstration near the Raj Bhawan here blaming the State Government for covering up the Bhushan steel plant mishap that claimed three lives officially.
Opposing the statement of labour Minister Bijayshree Routray in the State Assembly that there is no necessity for a judicial inquiry into the tragedy, the Parishad demanded his immediate resignation and a judicial probe into the incident.
"The steel plant in Dhenkanal district has turned into a workers’ graveyard as the company is running its operation defying all rules and regulations. Since its operation in 2005, as many as 110 people have died in the plant officially while the real death toll will be much more. Hence, we demand a judicial probe into the blast,” said OVP president Susant Kumar Padhi.
The company neither followed the safe commissioning procedure nor deployed trained and experienced workers for commissioning the blast furnace-II which resulted in the accident, alleged Padhi, adding that stringent action should be initiated against those responsible after proper
investigation.