Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya on Sunday announced that an ex-gratia of Rs 8.5 lakh will be given to each family of the three contract workers who died in a boiler blast at a plant of Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers (RCF) in Chembur, Mumbai.
“A detailed enquiry is being conducted by the concerned state government authorities to find out the exact cause of the accident. An amount of Rs 8.5 lakhs to each family is being given as ex gratia. In addition to this amount, compensation under Employees’ Compensation Act and other statutory dues will be disbursed to the families,” said a statement from the Labour Ministry.
On Saturday evening, three workers — identified as Dilip Pawar, Govind Kumar and Mehmood Alam Noormohamad — reportedly died as boiler number 2 in the steam generation unit of the plant exploded, leaving five others injured. While some reports said the three deceased workers were daily wagers, the Labour Ministry’s statement described them as contract workers.
“I am pained to know about an accident in Rashtriya Chemicals Ltd, Mumbai in which three contract workers lost their lives,” Dattatreya said in the statement, adding that he has instructed the authorities concerned to provide the best medical treatment and all necessary help to the injured workers.
This accident follows another massive blast on May 26 in a pharmaceutical factory in Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation in Thane district, which left five dead and over 100 people injured.