MARGAO
On Friday last, a young worker from Uttar Pradesh lost his life and four other workers were injured following ammonia gas leakage from Quality Foods, a fish processing unit at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate.
It’s exactly a week now and both the police and the Inspectorate of Factories and Boilers claim that investigations into the tragedy are underway. So far, the agencies have failed to either fix responsibility for the gas leakage or arrest the guilty, whose negligent act has resulted in the loss of life of a 22-year-old worker.
Inquiries by The Goan revealed that while the Cuncolim police have registered an FIR under section 304-A of the IPC for causing death due to negligence, they are yet to zero in on the person responsible for the negligent act.
The Cuncolim police have pushed the ball in the court of the Inspectorate of Factories & Boilers and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) to help them in the investigations.
Sources said the police have dashed off letters to the Office of Inspectorate of Factories & Boilers to help the men-in-uniform in taking the investigation to its logical conclusion since it is an agency having the right expertise.
Similarly, the police have written to the IDC to find out whether the rooms constructed by the adjoining unit to house its workers had conformed to the laid down guidelines.
A senior police official, however, said the Cuncolim police are independently conducting the investigation and the help of the two agencies has been sought to obtain an expert opinion in connection with the incident.
The office of the Inspectorate of Factories & Boilers told The Goan that the preliminary report has revealed that the ammonia gas leakage took place following a crack in the valve, adding the office will file its complaint before the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Margao, after capping the investigation.
Questions, however, remain unanswered. One, people of Cuncolim wonder whether the investigation by the police and the
Inspectorate will give justice to the deceased worker and help protect the lives and safety of the people living in the residential locality outside the estate.
That’s not all. Questions are being raised again whether the government departments concerned will probe into the construction of residential quarters by the units operating in the Cuncolim Industrial Estate.
It’s a week since the Ammonia gas tragedy had hit the estate, but the issue has not been addressed with all seriousness.
This was evident by the fact that the agencies in question had kept the district authorities in the dark when the Ammonia gas leakage had taken place in the wee hours of Friday last.
Cuncolim MLA Clafacio Dias, Cuncolim Municipal Council Chairperson Succorina Coutinho and councillors have joined Cuncolkars in demanding inter-departmental coordination and action to ensure the safety and security of the workers employed in the estate as well as the local residents staying outside it.
