MARGAO
It’s day three since the ammonia gas leakage from Quality Foods that claimed the life of a 22-year old worker, but many questions still remain unanswered.
While the body of the young worker has been handed over to his relatives, Margao Sub-divisional Police Officer, DySP Sahil Narangal, is yet to brief the media on whether the police have so far made any arrests in the case or whether it is not required.
DySP Narangal, who is monitoring and supervising the case, is yet to brief the media on the progress of investigations and why the police have not made any arrests to date.
Cuncolim police have pointed out that they have registered an FIR against the management of Quality Foods and are investigating to find out who is the exact person responsible for negligence resulting in the death of the worker. “The investigation is trying to ascertain who’s the person responsible for the gas leak incident,” a police official said.
That’s not all. It could not be ascertained whether the police will also investigate whether the adjoining unit had sought all the permissions to construct the makeshift rooms to accommodate the workers.
The worker who was killed in the ammonia gas tragedy was sleeping in the makeshift room in the adjoining unit, raising questions whether it was legal on part of that unit to accommodate labourers in the factory premises.
People of Cuncolim had been clear in demanding that the police, IDC and Labour Department should not fall into the trap of the industrial units that have built illegal rooms under the guise of restrooms for the workers.
Cuncolim-based doctor, Jorson Fernandes, pointed out that the entire incident should be investigated in detail by inter-departmental coordination team to bring out the truth. “Enough is enough. So many workers have perished in the estate. The government should constitute an inter-departmental team to investigate the latest incident to bring out the truth,” he demanded.
