Bhilai Steel Plant blast: CEO removed, 2 other suspended
Raipur, Oct 10: The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Bhilai Steel Plant was removed and two other senior officials were suspended Wednesday, a day after a blast at the plant which claimed the lives of 12 employees.
Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh announced the action against the officials after visiting the injured employees of the plant at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Hospital in Bhilai town, located around 30 km from here in Chhattisgarh.
CEO M Ravi was removed with immediate affect while General Manager (safety department) T Pandya Raja and Deputy General Manager (energy department) Naveen Kumar were suspended, Birender Singh told reporters.
Nine people were killed instantly and 14 others were injured in the gas pipeline blast at around 10.30 am Tuesday at the plant of the state-owned Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) in Durg district.
Two of the injured succumbed Tuesday late night while one more died Wednesday afternoon, taking the death toll to 12, Durg Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Shukla told PTI.
Now, 11 injured are undergoing treatment at the hospital, he added.
The union minister said two committees will conduct probe into the incident.
One internal committee of the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has already been constituted to probe the incident on Tuesday, which has been asked to submit its report within seven days, he said.
Another committee will be formed by the Steel Ministry which will have experts from all over the country to ascertain that how the incident occurred and who were responsible for it, he said.
The union minister said the family of the deceased employees will get an ex-gratia of Rs 30 lakh each while the seriously injured employees will get Rs 15 lakh each.
A special permission was taken from the Election Commission for announcing the relief as the Model Code of Conduct is in place in the poll-bound Chhattisgarh, he said.
The ex-gratia given in case of death of employees has been increased from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 30 lakh while for the seriously injured employees it has been hiked from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh, Singh said.
Besides, the employees who have sustained minor injuries will get Rs 2 lakh each, he added.
The families of the deceased will get a cumulative amount under various heads from Rs 33 lakh to Rs 95 lakh, he said.
The families of the deceased can avail salary up to the retirement of the respective employee or a member can get compensatory appointment, the minister said.
The officials have been directed to provide the amount to the affected families as soon as possible, he added.
Earlier, Inspector General of Police (Durg Range) G P Singh said that after receiving the postmortem report of the deceased, a case under the Indian Penal Code Section 304 (A) (causing death by negligence) will be registered followed by an inquiry into the incident.
The explosion took place in the gas pipeline connected to the coke oven section of the plant during a maintenance job, the SAIL had said.
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Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
