National Scheduled Castes Commission Vice-President Muragan and member Sriramulu on Thursday visited the S.V. Hatcheries Limited in Palamaner, where seven workers died after entering a septic tank on February 16.
The members, who arrived at the Renigunta airport from New Delhi, drove straight to Palamaner.
Inspection
After an hour-long inspection of the hatcheries unit, septic tanks, staff quarters, and other operational blocks, Mr. Muragan made a scrutiny of the attendance register, payslips, dress code, and lack of safety gear among the majority of the 150 employees, most of whom were on temporary rolls. Mr. Murugan later told the district administration that the firm had violated the Acts pertaining to labour laws and industrial safety. He observed that all the employees were being underpaid. It was also noticed that the management had used chemicals beyond the permissible level on the factory premises while dealing with septic tanks and cleaning works. “This is in violation of the pollution control norms,” he said.
Had the safety norms been followed, the tragedy could have been averted, he added.
Collector P.S. Pradyumna and SP S.V. Rajasekhar Babu, who accompanied the team, informed Mr. Muragan that the proprietors had not yet responded to the tragedy.
Criminal cases
The district officials said criminal cases would be filed against the management.
The panel members also visited Moram village, from where five of the deceased hailed from. Two other workers were from Karnataka.
The panel asked the district administration to complete disbursement of all the benefits to the families by February 27.
