A 70-year-old water tank of ECL collapsed, two workers injured; outrage over allegations of negligence in maintenance

Fearless Bengali, Andal: A major accident took place on Wednesday morning at Shyamsundarpur (Chhanchani) colliery of ICL's Bakla area under West Vandaman Andal police station. The huge concrete pond, about 70 years old, collapsed with a loud noise. In this incident which took place around 6:30 in the morning, two employees of ICL were seriously injured - Sangeeta Devi (50) and Prabhavati Bhuviya (50). He was quickly rescued and admitted to the hospital. But there is no news of any loss of life in this incident. In the last few days, due to continuous rains caused by low pressure, the water tank broke and panic spread in the entire area. According to the local people, this water tank supplies drinking water to about one thousand people. As a result, apart from the accident, there is also a fear of acute water shortage in the area. After the incident, sections of various labor organizations and trade unions have raised allegations of gross negligence in maintenance against ICL. Their complaint was that despite several old houses in the area being declared dangerous and demolished recently, this seven decade old water tank was being used only after minor repairs. Despite repeated warnings, no initiative has been taken for permanent renovation or construction of new pond, it is alleged. Labor leaders claim, "This is not a mere accident, but the result of prolonged negligence and lack of responsibility. Today two people have been injured, and there could be greater loss of life in the coming days." Their demand is to conduct an impartial investigation into the incident and take strict action against those responsible, along with making arrangements for safe drinking water by immediately constructing new ponds. After the accident, ICL authorities barricaded the area. But till now no official response has been received from the organization regarding this incident. As a result, questions began to arise around ICL's silence. Now let's see and investigate what steps the authorities should take to prevent such accidents in future.