JAIPUR: Five labourers of a contract agency, employed in the Mesco plant in Kalinga Nagar, were taken ill after inhaling poisonous gas that emanated from the blast furnace of the plant on Wednesday. The labourers had not put on any safety gear when the mishap occurred. They were rushed to the Danagadi government hospital and later, one of them was shifted to SCB Medical in Cuttack after his condition deteriorated. The labourers have been identified as Rajesh Soy (29), Shyamal Munda (25), Bijoy Soy (22), Pandav Munda (25) and Chandra Munda (23). Sources said JS Engineering was awarded the tender to paint the blast furnace of Mesco plant by its management and accordingly, the agency had sent five of its labourers for the job. As they climbed atop the furnace, they felt suffocated and became unconscious at around 1 pm. They were rescued by plant workers and rushed to the hospital. “As a rule, the workers are required to take sufficient precautionary measures, including breathing apparatus, before climbing up the blast furnace. This was not the case here,” said Kamalendu Mohapatra, Deputy Director of Factories and Boilers.He added that normally, blast furnace- related work is undertaken after it is shut down. “But today, the furnace was operational when the labourers were asked by their contractor to climb up the furnace,” he said. A case has been registered with the Kalinga Nagar police station.
Comments
0 comment