Nalco fire mishap: Villagers stage dharna with body
ANGUL: Hundreds of villagers of Balaramprasad staged a dharna in front of the smelter plant of Nalco on Friday with the body of fire mishap victim demanding Rs 25 lakh compensation and job to kin of the deceased. On July 23, four workers, including two contract workers, were injured in a fire mishap at the smelter plant of Nalco. The mishap occurred when power supply, which was snapped to cast house B, was resumed.
One of the injured, B Mithun Nath (28) of Balaramprasad, who sustained 90 per cent burns and was under treatment at a hospital in Delhi, died on Friday. The condition of another worker, Rajanikanta Parida, who is under treatment at a private hospital in Cuttack, is stated to be serious.
The villagers, led by Meenaketan Amant, staged a dharna in front the plant with Nath’s body. “Our demands include Rs 25 lakh compensation and a permanent job for his family member in Nalco besides punishment to erring officials who caused the accident on the day,” Amant said.
BJP leader and former MP Rudra Narayan Pany also demanded compensation and job in Nalco for the next of the kin of the deceased. The stalemate continued as Nalco management rejected their demand stating that it will give Rs 10 lakh as compensation as per the provision and skilled contractual job to the wife of the deceased.
Aid for Smelter mishap victim
A Nalco release stated that Nath’s family is entitled to lumpsum compensation of `17.65 lakh apart from monthly benefit for life to the kin of deceased of `19,356 and a job to his spouse Ambika in one its contractual establishments.