Factory collapse: Workers still under panic, say many forced to work in unsafe buildings

Though the district authorities had declared the rescue operation complete and teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were sent back after the recovery of three bodies of factory workers, industrial workers continued to throng the collapsed factory building site.

They raised the issue of unsafe factories running in the industrial hub and demanded immediate safety audit.

The workers questioned that had the government serious about the safety of factory workers, they should have launched a time-bound safety audit of factory buildings in the industrial hub by now. But nothing is being done in this regard and unsafe factories are continuing to function, posing risk to the lives of workers.

When asked why they spending considerable time at the collapsed buliding site, a factory worker said the incident that cost the lives of the three factory workers had been giving them sleepless nights. Still, they could not believe that their fellow workers lost their lives in the tragedy.

“We are also working in factories where buildings are in a poor state. We also afraid of facing the same fate someday. Value of our lives is nothing in the eyes of factory owners. Since the day the incident occurred, our family members who are staying in other states daily call us to enquire about our well-being as they are also under panic,” alleged a factory worker.

Another worker said the Kohli Dyeing factory collapsed due to the negligence of its owner. If he was getting some construction works done, unit operations should had been closed till the time the work was complete. The owner, despite being aware about the poor condition of the factory, endangered the lives of workers.

On Tuesday, a large numbers of workers gathered at the dyeing factory collapse site in Phase VIII, Focal Point, levelling allegations of negligence against its owner.

The migrant workers alleged that though the district administration had announced that the rescue operation was complete, believing that no worker could be under the debris now but the administration should not leave the work of clearing debris on the factory owner. “If the body of any other worker found under the debris, the factory owner or his aides might hide the development. Whenever we stand near the debris, people present there would ask us to leave. We request the district administration to at least comb the entire place to ensure that no body is lying buried under the rubble,” the labourers said.

MC told to assume control of site: Sources

Sources said the administration had asked the corporation to assume control of the collapsed site for precautionary purpose. The MC was also told to send structural assessment of the remaining part of the building. The Deputy Commissioner has asked the civic body to also take necessary steps to demolish the remaining structure if it was unstable and could endanger lives of the public. The MC Commissioner has deputed the officials on task for the same.