On 2nd July, at around 9.30 am, on the second floor of the steel plant, hot liquid iron from the blast furnace fell on seven on-duty workers who sustained serious burn injuries. The TPCL steel plant is situated at Lahandabuda in Jharsuguda district falling under the Dhuruhadihi police station check post.
The seven injured workers were identified as Rabi Shankar (40), Ananda Sahu (45), Ganesh Swain (30), Ranjit Singh (32), Sumant Majhi (24), Sahdev Patel (30), and Manbodh Mohanta. They were first taken to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH). Here, two of them had sustained comparatively fewer injuries, so they were discharged after preliminary treatment. According to the Jharsuguda Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO), Jagdish Chandra Barik, the injured had to be shifted to the Rourkela Ispat General Hospital (IGH), as the DHH had no burn unit.
Two of the remaining five workers, Ananda and Rabi Shankar, are admitted to the ICU with 40% burn injuries. The Assistant Director of Factories and Boilers, AK Nanda stated that the blast furnace at the steel plant has been sealed and investigations are being carried out to find out who was responsible for such a fatal accident and assured that strict action will be taken against the guilty. TPCL’s officials could not be contacted yet, for their comments on this incident.
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All across the country, there are thousands of steel plants, factories, and mines, where people work in hazardous conditions, with extreme risks to their lives. Even though it is an inevitable fact for such workers, they should still be given protective gear, equipment, and required training to avoid or prevent such accidents. Negligence at these risky workplaces can cost many precious lives. So necessary actions need to be taken against the miscreants, and favourable medical facilities should be provided to the victims by the government.
