Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) has said that it has initiated communication about compensation with the families of the two employees who died while inspecting a gas leak at the plant in Mangaluru on Saturday, July 12.
Kerala-native Bijil Prasad P and Deepchandra Bharatiya from Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, died after inhaling toxic gas at the MRPL plant in Mangaluru during an inspection. Vinayak Myageri, an employee who tried to rescue them, also fell sick.
MRPL is a subsidiary of the public sector undertaking Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC).
The Suratkal police have registered a case based on the complaint of Deepchandra’s wife Anita. In her complaint, Anita said that she got a call from her husband’s friend saying that Deepchandra and his colleague Bijil Prasad had died at a hospital in Mukka, which is close to the MRPL plant.
She said that Bijil Prasad had gone to inspect the FB29A tank at 5 am on July 12 and had said that he could smell hydrogen sulfide gas. He climbed on top of the tank at around 7 am. When there was no response from Bijil Prasad over the walkie talkie for about 20-30 minutes, Deepchandra and Balbir, another worker, went to check on him.
“Deepchandra saw Bijil Prasad lying unconscious, and himself lost consciousness,” the complaint said.
Balbir then informed the Fire Department through the OMS control room. Vinayak Myageri, who went to rescue Deepchandra and Bijil Prasad, also fell sick, the FIR said.
It took about 30 minutes for the fire safety personnel to reach the spot and bring the bodies down. They were first taken to the MRPL Hospital and later to the hospital in Mukka, according to the FIR.
Suratkal police told TNM that preliminary information suggested that the men were not wearing protective gear.
“The tanks are about 50-60 feet tall. Those present at the spot said that the two employees were not wearing protective gear because the company did not provide it. It was the Fire Department personnel who brought the bodies down after putting on protective gear,” an officer told TNM.
MRPL representatives told TNM that Vinayak is currently recovering.
The FIR has been filed against six MRPL officials including the factory manager, and five officials of the OMS section under Sections 106 (causing death by negligence), 125(a) (endangering human life) and 287 (negligent conduct with regard to combustible matter) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Compensation
MRPL had sent their workers to accompany the bodies of the two men to their native states. On Sunday, a day after the two men died, a video began circulating in which a worker who had accompanied Deepchandra’s body said that the man’s relatives were angry about the death and that the situation in his village was tense.
The company’s public relations officer Rudolf Noronha said on Monday, July 14, that the MRPL employees who had accompanied the mortal remains of Deepchandra were “safely on their way back”.
“It was true that when they reached the village of our colleague, plenty of relatives and villagers had, expectedly, gathered there, and they quite apprehensively enquired about the incident and likely compensation. But there was no untoward incident and our colleagues have returned after intervention of the MRPL management,” he said.
Rudolf also said that compensation for the victims’ families was “mandatory,” and that the families had been contacted. However, he declined to reveal the amount offered to them.
“All efforts will be made to rehabilitate the affected families, considering the exceptional situation in which precious young lives have been lost while working,” he said.
MRPL has set up a committee to inquire into the incident. The Mangaluru district administration will recommend corrective steps based on the report.