12 Injured In Oswals Orissa Plant Fire

About 12 workers of Oswal Chemicals and Fertilisers at Paradeep were seriously injured when the conveyer belt carrying sulphur from the silo to the acid plant caught fire last morning.

The district superintendent of police, Jagatsinghpur, under whose jurisdiction the plant is located, however, claimed that nobody has died in the mishap.

Meanwhile, tension has built up in the area following a clash between the workers and the security personnel of the plant immediately after the incident. The police said about 20 people sustained minor injuries in the clash.

The police have registered a case on the matter and arrested 20 people including 19 security men for their alleged involvement in the clash. The Rs 1,850 cr Diammonium Phosphate fertiliser unit which had gone on stream recently has been closed down as a sequel to these ugly events.

 

The fire accident comes close on the heels of the leakage of toxic gases from the Diamonium Phosphate (DAP) unit of the plant on Wednesday last in which 11 persons were affected seriously.

The Paradeep police said the 12 seriously injured in yesterday's fire incident have been shifted to the SCB hospital at Cuttack for treatment. But the hospital authorities and the Cuttack police denied any knowledge of them being treated there, thus raising suspicion about the exact whereabouts of the injured workers.

The plant officials were not available for any comment on the matter. There have been reports of gas leaks and other accidents in the newly built Oswal plant in the local media at regular intervals giving rise to doubts about the standard of safety measures in the complex. The state pollution control board officials visited the plant site last month to collect air and water samples for test.

The assistant superintendent of police, Jagatsinghpur, AK Panigrahi, said, police so far have registered 15 cases against Oswal management relating to gas leaks and other mishaps. He said, in four weeks three persons have died and 27 injured in these incidents.

The labour union leader Sudhakar Mantry alleged that lack of proper protective gear to the workers, a non-functional safety committee, inexperienced supervisory staff and an ill-equipped hospital have contributed to casualties in various mishaps in the plant in recent months.