Sagar (Madhya Pradesh): The death of a labourer in a soap factory in Sidhguwan industrial area under Bahria police station on Tuesday raised questions on the unit’s functioning. The accident occurred when it was a local holiday because of Dev Uthani Ekadashi.

A labourer died and another sustained severe injuries. The question the employees of the factory were asking was how it was opened on a holiday. Both the labourers were admitted to a private hospital where one died, and the other is undergoing treatment. City superintendent of police Neelam Choudhary rushed to the hospital to take stock of the situation. Legislator Pradeep Laria also went to the hospital to enquire after the health of the injured labourer, and wanted to know how the factory was functioning on a holiday.

Laria said he had spoken to the collector to arrange for proper treatment to the injured labourer. The accident occurred when the two labourers Mulayam Athia and Rafiq Khan came in contact with a mixture machine. According to sources, the accident may have occurred when the labourers were cleaning up the machine which somehow started. The police probing the case said they would act against the guilty after the inquiry.  

There are several complaints against the factory owner. The farmers of the area complained that because of the factory the underground water in the area was getting polluted. A group of farmers from Kerbana village said the chemicals released from the factory are turning the farmlands into barren ones. Such poisonous chemicals have also polluted the drinking water, they said. Former minister Surendra Choudhary  reached the hospital and demanded a probe into the labourer’s death and stern action against the guilty. 

When the plant head of the factory Kamal Gupta was contacted over the phone, he said he had been informed about the incident. He said because he had been in Gwalior, he would be able to say anything after reaching Sagar. The mixture machine had been closed, but how it started would be probed, he said.