Bhushan Steel Limited’s (BSL) plant at Meramundali in Dhenkanal district of Odisha, where an explosion on November 13 claimed two lives and injured over 30 employees, was operating its second blast furnace in blatant violation of all safety norms, regulations and permits.

While specifying that the company had been prosecuted earlier as well, and a closure notice had been issued then, Labour commissioner-cum-secretary, CTM Suguna, however, was unable to explain how a plant that was officially shut down due to lack of basic safety precautions could operate illegally, putting lives of hundreds of workers at risk.

Tathagat Satpathy, the Dhenkanal MP from ruling BJD, alleged that BSL has not been standardised as a steel and power plant and that there have been at least 107 recorded deaths on its premises while many more went unreported. Satpathy said the company should be shut down and allowed to reopen only after certification from relevant authorities, who, he said, should be held responsible for any violation of norms carried out by BSL.

According to Satpathy, the state government had sealed only the second blast furnace and not the others which were also unsafe. Sathpathy claimed to have been opposing BSL’s “underhand operations” since its inception.

The plant is located in his constituency.  

At least 95 deaths have been recorded in different mishaps since the plant’s inception and as many as 65 fatal accidents have occurred on its premises, it is learnt.

“Though the company has been under the scanner for frequently flouting norms, it has not bothered to correct itself. It managed to resume operations each time, leading to further accidents, said PK Biswal, general secretary of the company’s Shramik Sabha (labour union). “We have raised the issue of safety several times but to no avail.”

The state pollution control board (SPCB) had shut down BSL’s energy plant in August this year for violating pollution norms. In 2012, it had also issued a showcause notice on the unit for its failure to implement SPCB directions, but the authorities went ahead.

In 2011, SPCB had asked BSL to shut down six of its sponge iron kilns and coal-fired boilers for violation of pollution norms.

PC Das, director of factories and boilers, said BSL had been given licence for construction and installation of the second blast furnace but documents relating to the safe operating practices were wanting and had been sought. He said the company was asked for certain documents relating to safe operational practices and safe maintenance practices, and it is during this period that the mishap has taken place.

Das also said that BSL did not possess the consent to operate licence for the second blast furnace from the SPCB. “The mishap can be attributed to the negligence of the BSL management because it was technical error which could have been avoided,” Das said. During the testing of the blast furnace, hot metal and slag were separated and pit into which slag was deposited contained water.

“Water is sprinkled for cooling the slag, but leaving water in the pit and releasing slag right into it can create explosive pressure which is 30 times stronger than normal pressure. That what had happened in the blast furnace. It was sheer negligence”, he added.

In the last eight years, the State Directorate of Factories and Boilers has registered 69 cases against the BSL management in the local sub divisional judicial magistrate (SDJM) for violating of safety norms under Orissa Factories Rules, 1984, Factories Act, 1950, and Factories Act 1948. Other cases that were filed against the company were related to non-compliance of directions issued by government authorities following spot visits, violation of environmental norms, unauthorised constructions and fatal accidents leading to death of workers.

But no case has been executed so far, said sources in the office of the assistant director of factories and boilers, Dhenkanal.

Lalit Kumar Tewari, member-secretary, state pollution control board, said while BSL had applied for consent to operate the blast furnace, it was not granted since there was a lot of procedural inadequacy and no supporting documents in the application. BSL had started production without informing the authorities, he said. Moreover, the company had not called the department officials before starting the boiler.

Tewari said as per law a regional officer is investigating the case, adding that the officer was not allowed to enter the plant premises earlier but had finally got entry on Friday.

Dhenkanal collector Roopa Roshan Sahoo, who had rushed to the spot and met BSL officials and union leaders, pacified the agitated workers by assuring prompt action. Assistant director (factory and boiler) Bibhu Prasad said his department had issued closure orders till a state safety team, headed by deputy director (safety) MK Pradhan, submitted its report.

The state government arrested three senior BSL officials on Friday itself – chief operating officer and factory occupier AK Verma, shift in-charge Nabin Tyagi and project president Mahipal Singh – though the top management of the company seems once again to have escaped action, with lower-rung employees made scapegoats.

According to sources, critical decisions such as commissioning a blast furnace, which does not have necessary approvals, cannot be taken without clear instructions of the company’s board of directors, the apex decision-making body.

Labour commissioner and department secretary Suguna said the company has been issued a showcause notice and prohibitory orders under section 40/2 of the Factories and Boilers Act and the boiler has been sealed.

There was also a decision taken up for safety audit entrusted to IIT, Kharagpur. In their report, the premier institution had submitted that the technical team of BSL was not competent to handle boilers. BSL had objected to the safety audit but the state labour department insisted and it continued for two months.
State labour minister Bijayashree Routray told the media that the investigating team has also been asked to check boiler number 1, which is operational, due to repeated accidents at the plant. Routray said he has asked the labour commissioner to introduce biometric system so that the attendance and the exact number of labourers working in the plant can be ascertained.