Second MRPL contract worker dies of burns suffered in September 30 fire

Another contract employee of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) died on Saturday, October 17, from injuries suffered in the fire at the refinery on September 30.

MRPL employees gathered outside the mortuary of a private hospital in Mangaluru, where the post-mortem was conducted. They identified the deceased as Rajesh D'Silva, 42.

Rajesh was among 12 persons injured in the incident and had been undergoing treatment at a private hospital. He succumbed to burns on the morning of October 17.

A resident of Kana in Idya village, Surathkal, Rajesh had worked at MRPL on a contractual basis for several years. He was unmarried.

The fire broke out around noon on September 30 after a rupture in the cold separator, which operates at high pressure, in the Coker Hydrotreater Unit. The charred body of MRPL contract employee Manish Karkada, 30, was found after the fire was doused.

MRPL had announced compensation of Rs 1.2 crore to Manish’s family. It also announced health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh for each MRPL contract employee and his or her family members.

The company has informed the stock exchanges, BSE and NSE, that the financial impact of the fire is provisionally estimated at Rs 118.76 crore.

CPI(M) Dakshina Kannada district secretary Muneer Katipalla condoled the death and demanded that MRPL pay Rajesh’s family the same amount in compensation as it had to Manish’s family, and provide jobs at MRPL to their family members. 

He urged that compensation also be paid to residents of villages surrounding MRPL whose properties had been damaged by the intensity of the explosion.

Muneer also demanded that the investigation be made public. "The preliminary investigation report into the factors that caused the tragedy must be made public. An inquiry into the explosion must be conducted by a committee that includes representatives of the civil society,” he said. 

He also demanded that the government abandon MRPL's proposed Phase IV expansion project, citing Mangaluru's carrying capacity and the dense population in the surrounding areas.