NEW DELHI, Jan 6: Four contract workers engaged in maintenance works at the Rourkela Steel Plant of the Steel Authority of India Limited died following toxic carbon monoxide gas leak at its coal chemical department on Wednesday morning, the police said.
Rourkela SP Mukesh Kumar Bhamoo said it was immediately not known how the gas leak occurred.
Dipak Chattaraj, CEO of the RSP, has assured all help to the families of the deceased workers. A high-level committee comprising three Chief General Managers has been formed to inquire into the cause of the incident. The steel plant has also said it will give jobs to one family member of each of the deceased.
The four who turned unconscious were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of Ispat General Hospital in Rourkela, but later succumbed to the poisonous gas. The deceased have been identified as Ganesh Chandra Paila (59), Abhimanyu Sahu (33), Rabindra Sahu (59) and Brahmananda Panda (51).
A spokesman of the RSP said all the four deceased worked for a maintenance contractor firm Star Construction. Though there were reports of several other workers being affected by the gas leak, the steel plant spokesperson said only four workers were present at the accident site.
“The identity of the gas is yet to be ascertained. The inquiry committee will investigate the matter. Two Deputy General Managers from CCD and Energy Management Department (EMD) have been suspended with immediate effect,” RSP officials said.
Officials said the coal chemical department in the plant produces coke oven gas that is generated from the Coke Oven Battery. Local officials said a probe would be started as to how the leak happened and the lack of safety protocols at the worksite.
The first integrated steel plant in the public sector in India, RSP produces 4.5 MTPA (Million Tonne per Annum) of hot metal. SAIL proposes to ramp up the hot metal production to 8.8 MTPA by 2030.
(Manas Dasgupta)