Solan: Workers allege conspiracy, say were forced to go into factory when fire broke out

Tribune News Service

Solan, February 3

The worried family members of missing factory workers of perfume manufacturer NR Aroma, which was gutted by a fire yesterday in the Jharmajri area of Barotiwala in Solan district, waited for long hours to hear about the safety and well-being of their loved ones.

Having spent a sleepless night, they ran from hospital to hospital and also assembled outside the unit where a search operation by NDRF teams was underway. One woman died while being taken to the PGI, Chandigarh, yesterday and four bodies were retrieved today. Efforts were afoot to identify the bodies.

Irate workers claimed that they were forced to go inside the factory after the fire erupted around 1.30 pm. They alleged that there was a conspiracy to set the unit on fire. They wondered why the senior staff was outside the factory while the workers were inside. “The supervisor had closed the gate of the unit after the fire broke out to ensure no worker goes out,” said a wailing woman whose family member was among the missing workers.

The incident occurred after the lunch time. The workers alleged that senior staff members escaped unhurt while they got trapped inside the factory. The family members rued that there was no one to give them information about their missing kin.

Meanwhile, the police released a list of nine missing workers, namely Champo, a resident of Chamba; Kajal and Shashi, residents of Badayun in Uttar Pradesh; Kajal Bharti, a resident of Khushinagar in UP; Kalpana Ahirwal of Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh; Soni of Amroha in UP and Prem Singh of Sambhal district in UP.

Five of the nine missing workers have been identified. Barring one, all others are migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Vandana, whose elder sister was working with the unit for the past seven months, said that several workers either died or were injured with multiple fractures. She alleged that the perfume company was incurring losses and hence the fire incident was ‘manipulated’. She demanded strict action against the company management.

The workers accused a supervisor of forcing them to go inside the building when the fire broke out. “Drums containing inflammable material was being heated to melt the material when the mishap occurred,” said one of the workers.

Another UP resident, whose sister was also among the missing workers, said, “My sister was working with labour contractor Mishra for the past three months. There is no clue about my sister and three other girls working with her. Their relatives are arriving here from Uttar Pradesh.”

Frantically looking for missing sister

My sister Rehnuma, who was working with the factory for the past two years, is missing. I have looked for her in hospitals. I went to the ESI Hospital at Katha and even to the PGI, Chandigarh, but got no clue about her. I have been pleading with the administration to let me see the retrieved bodies but to no avail. — Hasmat, resident of Uttar Pradesh

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