‘Balco mishap Chhattisgarh’s biggest industrial tragedy’

RAIPUR - The Chhattisgarh government Friday termed the Sep 23 Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (Balco) power plant chimney crash, at Korba town, the biggest-ever industrial tragedy in the state’s history.

“Balco mishap is the biggest ever industrial tragedy of state’s history but it’s incorrect to say the government had been silent to neglect the industrial workers’ interests, in fact, in 2009 itself a total of 57 inspections of Balco plant at Korba were carried out,” labour minister Chandrasekhar Sahu said in reply to a Call Attention notice of leader of opposition Ravindra Choubey in the state assembly.

Sahu rejected opposition charges that the government had maintained silence over Balco management’s continuous violations to various labour and industrial rules that risked the life of a large number of workers.

He informed the assembly that 39 workers were killed on the spot and one later succumbed to injuries at hospital while seven were injured. A single-member judicial commission was formed in October under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 to make a comprehensive probe, he added.

Choubey said in his notice that about 70-80 workers were killed and hundreds were injured Sep 23 at Korba, some 240 km from state capital Raipur, when an under-construction chimney of the Balco power plant collapsed. It was all because sub-standard construction materials were used and the Balco management totally neglected labour and industrial rules, he said.