A furnace blast in Uttam Galva Metallics steel plant near Wardha on Wednesday afternoon left 38 workers badly burnt after they came in contact with hot air and coal particles from the furnace. Total 29 of the injured workers were admitted in ABVRH, Sawangi (Meghe) and around 8 workers in Sevagram Hospital, some of them in the intensive care unit, while 3 with critical burns were rushed to Nagpur’s Orange City Hospital. Uttam Metallics run by Uttam Steel Value Group is located on Hinganghat road at Bhugaon village, around 10 km from Wardha and is among the largest manufacturers of cold rolled steel and galvanised steel in western India.

 

It was business as usual at the plant on Wednesday morning when some workers were busy emptying a blast furnace. According to the company’s preliminary investigation report, the furnace had been shut down on February 2 for annual maintenance and furnace evacuation had been completed. But a sudden outflow of hot air from the furnace caught the workers in that area unawares and left them injured.

 

Chaos prevailed in the factory premises after the incident as other staffers scurried to shift their injured fellow staffers to the hospital. On getting information, Wardha Collector Vivek Bhimanwar, SP Prashant Holkar and SDPO Piyush Jagtap also reached the plant. Bhimanwar later said that workers at the steel plant sustained burn injuries after coming in contact with hot air and coal particles from a furnace. The injured workers were shifted to nearby hospital, while those in critical condition were shifted to Nagpur for further treatment, he told.

 

The Hitavada got in touch with MP Ramdas Tadas, who is presently in New Delhi. He said that District Collector Bhimanwar and Superintendent of Police Holkar have been asked to carry out a thorough probe to find out the actual cause behind the mishap. He also asked the company to ensure best medical treatment to all the injured staffers. Datta Meghe, former MP and Vice-Chancellor of DMIMS (deemed University), vis ited Acharya Vinoba Bhave Rural Hospital and enquired about condition of the injured workers. He also instructed the hospital management to provide proper medical care to the patients. The injured workers include Pushpendra Patel (25), Yogendra Nirmalkar (32), Kamlesh Bhatia (37), Girdhar Nirmalkar (30), Mrityujay Mahante (37), Dilip Sahu (42), Manoj Yadav (30), Vishwajeet (35), Saikumar Shriram (23), Aditya Holkar (22), Hariram Durga (41), Ramakant Patel (40), Mangesh Chandankhede (34), Chandrakant Pushti (39), Ashok Kumar Patel (40), Sunny Meenaj (40), Shrikant Potdukhe (36), Bipin Sen (22), Amit Patil (19), Vandan Tarale (30), Rahul Indore Rangdal (30), Pundev Maji (47), Manoj Kumar Yadav (40), Narendra Patel (24), Suraj Sanbadia (35), Inderjit Ram (38), Abhishek Bhowmik (32), Shyam Pal (32), Vinod Pandey (55) and others.

 

 

Guardian Minister orders probe After the Uttam Galva Metallics incident, Wardha’s Guardian Minister Sunil Kedar ordered immediate medical assistance to all the injured workers. He said that the case will be investigated under Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health as per the provisions in Factories Act 1948. Kedar further said that the enquiry will be done by a Government Labour Officer. Another enquiry will be done by Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, he informed.

 

Uttam Galva mgmt assures internal probe Management of Uttam Galva Metallics released a statement in the evening claiming that it prioritised safety, security and wellbeing of all workers. This is our biggest priority and we take all the necessary steps to ensure that safety procedures are followed by our teams at our plants, the statement added. The management has assured best medical care for its staff and informed that a detailed internal investigation was being carried out to identify the cause of the accident. All necessary steps will be taken to address the issues, as may be needed post completion of the report, mentioned R K Sharma, Adminstraive Officer, in the statement issued here.