Naveen’s silence on Bhushan mishap is a shame : KV Singhdeo

Reported by Chinmaya Dehury

Bhubaneswar, Nov 20:

“The silence of the Chief Minister on the Bhushan fire mishap is a shame for the state. As the head of the state, he was expected to console the victims and their families but he is busy with election campaign to save his chair ,” state BJP president KV Singhdeo said today while lashing out at Naveen Patnaik for allegedly shielding the Bhushan boss, “who has flouted each and every norm prescribed in the law of the land”.

“There are more than 200 cases in different courts filed by the state against the company, but no stringent action has been taken so far. Naveen Patnaik has put his self-interest above the interest of state. The actual number of deaths since the commissioning of the plant in 2005 is yet to come. The official figures are grossly diluted and manipulated. Besides, safety measures in the Bhushan steel plant were not in place in gross violation of the Labour Act,” said Singhdeo in a press release.

Stating that the contradictory statements of Labour minister Bijoyshree Routray on the fire mishap have exposed the state’s ineffective leadership, he said even after eight days of the blast the government and the concerned authorities are unable to come out with the number of casualties.

While Panchayati Raj minister Kalpataru Das has claimed that the work process in Bhushan is in compliance with the prescribed norms, Routray is of the view that Bhushan is vehemently flouting the rules. This is clear evidence of the fact that the government is not only hiding its incompetence but also misleading and cheating the people of the state, said the BJP president.

Condemning the arrest of senior BJP leader Rudranarayan Pani and 28 other leaders while they were protesting peacefully in front of the plant, Singhdeo said  intolerance towards peoples’ protests and having nothing to answer, the government was forced to declare Sec. 144 in the area.