Tension at Vadanta-Facor plant in Odisha’s Bhadrak after fire mishap, section-144 clamped

The Bhadrak district administration on Wednesday enforced section-144 around 200-metre radius of the Vedant-Facor plant at Randia after two workers sustained grievous injuries in a fire mishap on Tuesday.

The prohibitory orders will be in force till 6am on April 14, informed sources.

The injured workers have been identified as Purna Chandra Sutar from Koranta and Bijay Kumar Behera from Randia in the district. They were employed as furnace charging car operators at the plant.

The duo sustained severe burn injuries in a fire mishap while working in the plant on Tuesday.

The injured were initially taken to a private hospital in Bhubaneswar for treatment. However, they were later air-lifted to the National Burns Centre in Mumbai after their health deteriorated further.

Bhadrak MLA, Sanjib Kumar Mallick said, “Following the mishap, the injured workers were shifted to a private hospital in Bhubaneswar. Upon the advice of the doctors we requested the Vedanta authorities to send the injured to Mumbai and they obliged. I hope the injured workers recover as soon as possible.”

Tension prevailed at the plant and nearby villages after the news of the mishap spread on Tuesday, forcing the administration to clamp section-144.