Low-grade raw material to blame for Vizag Steel Plant accident?

Visakhapatnam: Even as the management of Vizag Steel Plant (VSP) remain tightlipped on the exact cause of the accident in which eight workers were killed and six severely injured, labour unions and former officials of the steel plant attribute it to lack of technological discipline, ill-conceived operating procedures, and time pressure for production.

Deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan and HRD minister Nara Lokesh, who visited the plant on Tuesday, said it was not proper to comment on the cause of the accident as the three-member expert panel is seized of the investigation and its report will pinpoint the cause that led to the tragedy.

Former officials and worker unions allege that a large number of skilled and experienced workers were either transferred or forced to accept voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) over the last three years, while thousands of contract labourers were also removed. This resulted in heavy burden on the existing staff. They also alleged the use of low-quality ferro alloys, which they claim could be the reason behind the frequent mishaps at the plant.

Ironically, there was an accident in the same unit as recently as June 4, resulting in damage to the equipment. There were no casualties as no employees were at the site when the mishap occurred. Just four days later (June 8), another accident in the unit led to eight deaths.

The union leaders alleged that improper operating procedures caused the accident in the steel melting shop (SMS) I and II. They said that argon purging was stopped in the last three weeks. Purging in the SMS is the process of injecting inert gases into molten steel to homogenise temperature and chemistry, facilitate chemical reactions, and float out non-metallic inclusions. As this was not carried out in the last three weeks, the molten metal from the ladle may have spilled over, they alleged.

Y Siva Sagara Rao, former CMD of Vizag Steel Plant, told TOI that he came to know that low-grade raw material was being purchased by the plant management. “Technical discipline should be there and also proper SOP should be followed. But skilled and experienced employees are either opting for VRS or being transferred. The coke oven plant has almost been shut down in the last two years due to poor maintenance. It seems there is no one to review the safety protocols. Safety standards must be reviewed periodically. The management has been implementing physical discipline, but seems to have forgotten to maintain technological discipline,” he observed.

CITU leader K Ayodhya Ram alleged that the management has not been conducting argon purging. “We came to know that this process has not been conducted for the past 20 days. There was no pipe, which is used to send gas to ladle for the purging process, for the past few weeks and the plant management did not look into this critical aspect. Without proper purging activity, the ladle should not be carrying hot metal,” he alleged.

Appa Rao, who was a senior employee in SMS-I unit and retired recently, told TOI that argon purging removes any solid pieces in the liquid hot metal by sending the oxygen through a pipe into the ladle. “If the solid pieces are in the liquid metal, then making of blooms will become difficult and will not be in proper shape. The accident took place due to lack of operational procedure,” he said, adding that another accident occurred in the same SMS-1 on June 4 during night shift. “There were no casualties, but it should have been taken as a warning sign. Had that happened, may be the eight precious lives could have been saved,” he added.