Opposition flays govt on Bhushan mishap

Demands probe by CBI or House committee into the incident

The opposition parties led by Congress on Tuesday cornered the state government, blaming it for covering up the Bhushan mishap that claimed three lives.

Participating in the discussion on an adjournment motion on Bhushan issue in the state assembly, Congress chief whip Prasad Harichandan said, "The company's steel plant in Dhenkanal has turned into a graveyard which is running its operation defying all rules and regulation."

Harichandan said, the company has filled up water bodies and acquired grazing field of a nearby village to build the blast furnace chimney on it. The company has also grabbed 61.48 hectares of forest land and 1,360 metres of land belonging to Rengali right canal, meant for agricultural purpose, to build a railway siding, he alleged.

Citing the arrest of Warren Anderson in the Bhopal gas tragedy, the Satyabadi MLA said, "Why the owners of Bhushan are allowed to go free and are not booked for homicide as in the case of Bhopal gas tragedy."

The state government has filed cases against Rahul Sengupta, the occupier, but not against the owners Sanjay Singhal, Aarati Singhal and Aniket Singhal, he pointed out.

He termed the operation of the plant as illegal, stating that there was no approval, clearance and permission for the same.

Harichandan claimed that a report of a subcommittee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was suppressed where the irregularities in the Bhushan's blast furnace operation were reported one and half years back.

The Opposition demanded an inquiry into the Bhushan accident either by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or by the House committee.

Admitting that there was lack of transparency in the operation of the Bhushan plant, the labour and employee state insurance minister Bijayshree Routray said, frequent accidents in the plant has caused more causalities compared to other projects in the state.

The minister stated that the accident occurred when the hot metal and slag came in direct contact with the water present in the slag pit during the trial run of the blast furnace number 2.

The state government has requested the directorate general, Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes under the Union ministry of labour to do a safety audit in the plant.

As many as 70 cases were filed against the company under the Employees Compensation Act between 2006 and 2013 and out of that 36 cases have been disposed with payment of Rs 1,57,98,772 compensation to 90 people.

The steel company neither followed the safe commissioning procedure nor deployed trained and experienced workers for commissioning the blast furnace-II which resulted in the accident. Routray said, an expert team from Rourkela Steel Plant has reported that there was no problem in continuing the operation of the blast furnace-I.

"Only after safety audits, steps will be taken whether work will be restarted or not," the minister added.

The regional officer of the pollution control board has sealed the blast furnace-II, 256 Mw power plant and cold rolling mill of the steel maker which were running without the approval of the state pollution control board.

"Stern action will be taken against the erring industrial units," Routray asserted.