For Mantu Barua, a native of Odisha, it was like being under a volcano. On Wednesday, a deadly mix of hot ash, water, and steam emanating from the Unchahar boiler fell on him and many others like a shower of molten lava. Mr. Barua, who has been working as a rigger for the past four years, is among the nearly 60 injured in the boiler blast.
Mr. Barua, 40, received burn injuries on both arms and says he is lucky to be alive.
“It was like fire-water. There was smoke coming out of the steel pipe. People were charred where they were working. Some could not even move,” he said. Mr. Barua is receiving treatment at a hospital in Lucknow.
Dileshar Kishan, another eyewitness, said he saved himself by hanging on to the beam he was working on that was above the blast spot. “I could not see anything. We were blinded by the dust and ash. I did not know what to do. It lasted only two minutes. It was brought under control. Had it gone on for longer we would all have been dead,” said Mr. Kishan.
The government expects the death toll to rise as many of the injured have burns above 60%.
Meanwhile, NTPC workers gathered at the plant site shouting slogans and demanding justice. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi who visited the site interacted with the workers and heard out their grievances. He met the families of the victims and the injured in the hospitals, and interacted with officials of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).
Mr. Gandhi inquired with NTPC officials whether the allegations that the unit, which was commissioned in March-April, was made prematurely functional were true. The NTPC is yet to issue a statement on this but informed that the Unit 6 of the plant, where the incident took place, had been shut down. The other five units of the station are operating normally, the NTPC said.
Though he did not speak to the media, the Congress leader tweeted: “It is the workers’ demand that a judicial probe be conducted of this incident which took place due to negligence and those culpable get strict punishment.”
Union Power Minister R. K. Singh, who inspected the plant, announced an increased ex-gratia compensation for the victims; ₹20 lakh for the kin of the dead, ₹10 lakh to those with grievous injuries and ₹2 lakh to those with other injuries.
PTI adds:
PM grants ex gratia to victim’s kin
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday approved ex-gratia payment of ₹2 lakh each for the families of those killed in the explosion and ₹50,000 each for those injured, the PMO said on Twitter.
Five units operational at Unchahar plant: NTPC
New Delhi: State-run power giant NTPC on Thursday said five units were operating normally at its accident-hit Unchahar thermal plant in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh. The unit 6 of the 1,550-megawatt plant,where a boiler exploded on Wednesday, is under shut down, the power PSU said.