Rourkela: The assistant director of factories and boilers, Zone-II, Rourkela, has prohibited the operation of an induction furnace at a factory in Kalunga here from Friday night due to unsafe working conditions following an explosion late afternoon, which left three workers with burn injuries.
The injured were identified as Raju Ganju, Manoj Betwari and Zakir Ansari.

They were taken to Ispat General Hospital (IGH). Manoj and Zakir were discharged after being administered first aid. Raju, whose condition is extremely critical, was admitted to the burn centre of IGH for further treatment.
After the incident, tension prevailed outside the Mahavir Ferro Alloys (P) Ltd plant as workers and locals protested against the management. Personnel from Brahmani Tarang police station visited the plant to pacify the protesters.
Swaraj Kumar Tripathy, assistant director of factories and boilers, Zone-II, Rourkela, also visited IGH to enquire about the condition of the injured workers. On Friday night, he visited the plant and later issued a prohibition order under Section 40(2) of the Factories Act, 1948, against operation of the induction furnace-1.
“I have directed the management to conduct an external safety audit of the factory by a competent person approved by the director of factories and boilers and have also asked the management to submit different parameters related to the induction furnace for further analysis of the cause of the accident,” said Tripathy.
“I will file a case against the management within three months of the accident as per the Factories Act, 1948. The management has been directed to bear all the expenses for the treatment of Raju,” he added.
Sudhansu Pati, director of the company, said, “The explosion in induction furnace-1 occurred due to a puncture. Govt officials concerned, after visiting the plant, are enquiring into the incident.”