While Bhushan has been in deep trouble with pressure building up on the State Government to take stringent action against its owner and all other authorities responsible for the November 13 blast, a report of missing of five foreign nationals working in the plant on the fateful day has again compounded its problem.
“According to our reports, five foreign nationals- three engineers from China and two engineers from Thailand who were part of the commissioning of the Blast Furnace –II of the Bhushan steel plant are missing since the explosion,” said labour Minister Bijayshree Routray. He said that the labour Commissioner was asked to verify and give the details of the foreign nationals working in the steel mill.
Meanwhile, Commissioner –cum-Secretary of labour Department CTM Suguna submitted a report from the District labour officer of Dhenkanal regarding the number of persons killed and injured due to the explosion.
Suguna who submitted the report to the Chief Secretary on Saturday told newsmen that while one person died in the blast, 17 others sustained injuries. However, she did not give exact number of persons working at the second blast furnace during the commissioning. Nor did she reveal about the total number of registered employees and workers and the number of daily workers being employed by various contractors in the plant.
labour Minister Routray informed that an expert team from the Rourkela Steel Plant on the request of the State Government had started inspection of the exploded blast furnace site and the vital units, including the first blast furnace of the company. The team would give their report separately to the State Government on the cause of the blast and the existing safety measures, he said.
Besides, he said a team of experts from IIT Kharagpur was scheduled to reach the Bhushan plant site to undertake a safety audit of the plant and probe the cause of the explosion and the laxity on the part of the company authorities in maintaining safety norms.
Slamming the Bhushan authorities for the repeated accidents and violation of safety and environment laws, the Minister said that the labour Commissionerate had been asked to ensure foolproof measures in the plant as per law and take legal steps against the erring company.
Routray, who on Friday had courted a controversy and invited anger from the Chief Minister for his unsolicited remark against him and the Chief Secretary, on Saturday, begged an apology through the media. “I have no intention speaking against the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary on the tragic incident in Bhushan Steels. The statement was unintentional and I am sorry for that,” he clarified to the mediapersons.