Vedanta blast toll rises to 24, 11 still hospitalised

Raipur: One more critically injured worker in the boiler blast at the Vedanta plant in Chhattisgarh's Sakti district succumbed to his burns on Sunday late evening, taking the toll to 24.The deceased was identified as Manish Kumar, a resident of Uttar Pradesh. Another 11 workers remain hospitalised, with some said to be in critical condition.As the toll climbed, BJP MP from Janjgir-Champa, Kamlesh Jangde wrote to Union labour minister Mansukh Mandaviya, power minister Manohar Lal Khattar and commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, seeking their intervention and demanding a high-level probe.At the state level, the Bilaspur divisional commissioner has already been tasked with conducting an inquiry and submitting a report within 30 days.Preliminary probe suggests that the explosion took place in boiler unit-1, possibly due to a technical fault in a water supply pipe joint connected to a high-pressure steam line. The blast trapped workers on site, leading to multiple fatalities.Amid the mounting scrutiny around operational safety at the plant in light of the deaths, the company has initiated compensation measures. The company has started handing out cheques of Rs 35 lakh each to the kin of the dead and Rs 15 lakh to the families of injured. According to company officials, advanced medical care was being provided to the injured at hospitals in Raigarh. A 24x7 helpline, Vedanta Samvedana Kendra, has been opened and teams have been sent to reach out to families outside the state, the company said.