Nagpur: At a time when Hudkeshwar police have booked directors and contractor of Atharva Infrastructure for causing death of a labourer negligently, the owners and directors of Solar Industries India Ltd have been let off the hook for causing death of nine workers in a blast recently.
The inaction against the owners and directors of Solar Industries after a blast claimed nine lives has left many bewildered. The differing outcomes have underscored concerns about fairness in the legal system and highlighted the need for consistent application of laws in cases of industrial accidents resulting in fatalities.
Notably, the directors and contractor of Atharva Infrastructure have been booked after a labourer fell from 8th floor of an under-construction building in Atharva Nagari-6 on Besa-Pipla Road in Nagpur. The labourer, Dinesh Manik Gaekwad (42), a resident of Vaishnavi Society, Abhay Nagar, was working on the 8th floor of the said building. He suddenly lost balance and fell from the building and died on the spot.
Police had registered a case of accidental death and started a probe. During the investigation, police found that the accused directors Manoj Suramwar, Chandrakant Suramwar, Narendra Mallewar, Rahul Mallewar, Raju Chhanwar, Raju Waghmare, and the contractor of Atharva Infrastructure had not taken any safety measures to prevent any untoward incident. This led to the labourer losing his life.
However, a pertinent question now arising is: Why an FIR has been filed against the owners and directors of Solar Industries India Ltd where nine workers lost their lives in a powerful blast. Although police have registered a case against unidentified persons in connection with the blast at the explosives manufacturing factory, the “real culprits” are apparently being shielded by the police for reasons known to them only.
During the Winter Session of State Legislature in Nagpur, Opposition legislators had alleged lapses by the company in ensuring the safety of workers and demanded action against Industrial Safety Department officials.
A case has been registered against unidentified persons under Indian Penal Code sections 304 (a) (causing death by negligence) and 286 (negligent conduct with respect to explosive substance) on a complaint of Kondhali police station’s Assistant Police Inspector Pankaj Waghode. The accused persons would be identified during the investigation, the official said.
Raising the issue in the State Legislative Council, opposition leader Ambadas Danve (Shiv Sena-UBT) had demanded a report from the Nagpur District Collector to fix accountability and demanded action against officials concerned from the Industrial Safety Department.
“Mandatory safety drills had not been conducted at the company and even officials from the industrial safety department were denied access to the premises,” he said. Danve said workers at the factory were forced into early morning shifts after working late the previous night.
Congress MLC Shashikant Shinde said, “This isn’t the first time that an explosion occurred in the company. There were two such incidents in the past.”
The explosion occurred when the workers were engaged in production and packaging of Trinitrotoluene (TNT) chemical, a potent yellow explosive material widely used in military applications, a police official said.
The factory falls under the jurisdiction of the Petroleum & Explosive Safety Organisation (PESO) and its officials were conducting an inquiry into the incident, the police said.
