Govt confirms two deaths in Bhushan accident

No worker missing, Labour Secretary shifted

The state government today confirmed that two persons were killed and 29 got injured in the November 14 blast at Bhushan Steel Ltd (BSL) steel plant at Meramundali, after verifying attendance records of all the workers.

In another development, the state pollution control board (OSPCB), which had ordered shut-down of BSL’s 256 Mw power plant and cold rolling mill, today sealed both the units. The pollution watchdog has also registered a case against the steel maker at Dhenkanal Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) citing water and air pollution rule violation. It levelled charges against three senior officials of the company.

“Two persons died and 29 were injured, out of total 974 workers present that day. Nobody is missing”, said Shalini Pandit, state labour commissioner. Rupa Roshan Sahu, collector of Dhenkanal and CTM Suguna, state labour secretary also attended the event.

Suguna, however, was shifted from the department later in the day. R K Sharma, state forest and environment secretary has been given additional charge of labour department. Suguna has been posted as Consolidation Commissioner.

Out of the two deceased, one had died on the day of the blast, while another one succumbed to injuries on Wednesday at a private hospital in Cuttack. The government conducted a search operation inside the plant suspecting more deaths who could have been buried under the debris.

Though Bhushan has been maintaining about low casualty since the day of the incident, state investigating agencies became proactive when labour minister Bijayashree Routray gave a controversial statement saying five foreign engineers were missing since the blast.

The district administration then identified all the 42 foreign engineers engaged in the commissioning of blast furnace no 2 of the steel plant and relocated them to Bhubaneswar.

It thoroughly examined the attendance records to find out if anybody was missing as relatives of the workers were in dark about the whereabouts of their kins following the incident.  The administration had to impose prohibitory orders in front of the plant gate to disperse the agitating relatives and trade union leaders.

The Bhushan fire accident has become a political hot potato as opposition parties cornered the state government on charges of showing favours to the company by letting it go scot-free despite laxity in safety measures at the plant. The suspicion of Bhushan hiding more deaths and the government favouring it exacerbated the situation further for the Biju Janata Dal-ruled government amid municipality polls in western Odisha.

Union minister of state Srikant Jena demanded that a CBI probe into the incident stating that the state government officials and local police were working hands in glove with Bhushan authorities. K Suresh, Union minister of state for labour, also announced to conduct a probe if the probe being conducted by the state government was found to be unsatisfactory.

A technical committee probe conducted by experts of Rourkela Steel Plant (SAIL) has revealed that the blast occurred as hot metal from the newly built blast furnace no 2 came in direct contact with water, which should not have happened had the company officials adopted enough safety measures.