Judge named for probe into Balco tragedy

Sandeep Bakshi, district and sessions judge here, will conduct the official inquiry into the chimney collapse at Bharat Aluminium Company’s unit on September 23 at Korba, 300 km from here, which killed 41 people.

The judge has been appointed on the recommendation of the High Court, on a government. “Based on the report, the state government would take appropriate action against the persons found guilty,” sources said.

The Korba police had arrested the person in charge at the site of Gannon Dunkerly and Company Ltd (GDCL), Manoj Sharma. This is the only arrest made by the police so far.

GDCL had bagged the Rs 60-crore-contract to build a chimney in the power plant of Balco. A Chinese construction company, Shandong Electric Power Construction Corporation was awarded the project of setting up a 1,200-Mw power plant.