Senior BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra on Sunday demanded that the promoter of Bhushan Steels ltd be booked under the National Security Act (NSA) for the blatant violation of the labour and environment laws.
The diktat of the company’s promoter runs in the plant area in Dhenkanal district and the laws of the Central and State Governments do not work there, said Mohapatra, who had visited the plant site along with other senior party leaders on Saturday to take stock of the situation in the wake of the November 13 explosion in the plant’s Blast Furnace-II during its commissioning leading to death of a worker and injuries to 17 officially.
Pointing out that successive accidents in the plant have claimed lives of over 100 workers since the construction of the steel mill in 2006, Mohapatra said it is sad that the writ of the State labour or Environment Department did not work in the case of Bhushan Steel.He demanded that the Chief Minister clarify as to why the State’s laws did not apply there and his relations with the company.
The Government must summon the owner of the company for the lapses. Since the promoter has been eluding from the day of the explosion, the State Government should book him by invoking the provisions of the NSA for the criminal negligence and charges of murder. Now, the State Government should close the Bhushan mill without any delay for the interest of the State, particularly of the workforce, he said.