BALCO washes its hands of the chimney accident
The Vedanta Group that has 49% of stake in BALCO is trying to wash its hands of the Chhattisgarh BALCO chimney accident in which 41 labourers from Bihar and West Bengal had perished.
Instead of compensating the workers the Group is desperate to sell its share. Shockingly, during its talks with Mining Secretary Sheila Nair the Vedanta officials did not even mention the accident.
This infuriated the Minister for Coal BK Handique
so much that he told the officials that no talks would be entertained until the labourers are compensated and rehabilitated. Even one month after the incident, only one man has been held. And the group is yet to take responsibility for the tragedy. The slow pace of the probe raises several questions. Experts who visited the site say the poor quality of construction materials led to the disaster.
The 248-metre chimney was part of the extension project that was being carried out to facilitate the 1,200 MW power plant. The initial probe confirms that the chimney collapsed because of piling failure and use of sub-standard construction material. District Collector Ashok Agarwal says: “When I picked up the debris and crushed it with my bare hands, it crumbled like sand.”
Building experts point out that the site of construction was earlier a swamp and proper care was not taken while laying the foundation. Besides, the project manager and quality control head of BALCO rarely visited the site. BK Sharma, general secretary of the Workers’ Union, told TSI that his efforts to draw the officials’ attention to the irregularities were ignored. Engineers who have first hand experience in the construction of such chimney maintain that such structures are erected phase-wise. They cite a chimney made by L&T in the area. But all the evidence are not enough to convince the BALCO officials, who continue to insist that direct strike of the thunderbolt lead to the collapse of the chimney. However, experts blame the bad quality of Reinforcement Bars provided by Chinese company for the disaster.
The callousness of the officials dismays them. The Assistance Labour Commissioner has no idea as to how many labourers were on duty at the time of accident. Passing the buck seems to be the game. BALCO says it outsourced the project to GDCL-Gannon Dunkerley & Co Ltd and therefore the onus lies on them.
The Vedanta Group that has 49% of stake in BALCO is trying to wash its hands of the Chhattisgarh BALCO chimney accident in which 41 labourers from Bihar and West Bengal had perished.
Instead of compensating the workers the Group is desperate to sell its share. Shockingly, during its talks with Mining Secretary Sheila Nair the Vedanta officials did not even mention the accident.
This infuriated the Minister for Coal BK Handique
so much that he told the officials that no talks would be entertained until the labourers are compensated and rehabilitated. Even one month after the incident, only one man has been held. And the group is yet to take responsibility for the tragedy. The slow pace of the probe raises several questions. Experts who visited the site say the poor quality of construction materials led to the disaster.The 248-metre chimney was part of the extension project that was being carried out to facilitate the 1,200 MW power plant. The initial probe confirms that the chimney collapsed because of piling failure and use of sub-standard construction material. District Collector Ashok Agarwal says: “When I picked up the debris and crushed it with my bare hands, it crumbled like sand.”
Building experts point out that the site of construction was earlier a swamp and proper care was not taken while laying the foundation. Besides, the project manager and quality control head of BALCO rarely visited the site. BK Sharma, general secretary of the Workers’ Union, told TSI that his efforts to draw the officials’ attention to the irregularities were ignored. Engineers who have first hand experience in the construction of such chimney maintain that such structures are erected phase-wise. They cite a chimney made by L&T in the area. But all the evidence are not enough to convince the BALCO officials, who continue to insist that direct strike of the thunderbolt lead to the collapse of the chimney. However, experts blame the bad quality of Reinforcement Bars provided by Chinese company for the disaster.
The callousness of the officials dismays them. The Assistance Labour Commissioner has no idea as to how many labourers were on duty at the time of accident. Passing the buck seems to be the game. BALCO says it outsourced the project to GDCL-Gannon Dunkerley & Co Ltd and therefore the onus lies on them.
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