Jogi demands Rs 25 lakh as compensation to BALCO victims

     Korba, September 29, 2009: Senior Congress leader Ajit Jogi today demanded Rs 25 lakh to the families of each of the victims of BALCO chimney collapse accident of September 23.

     It was one of the biggest accidents in the industrial history, Jogi told reporters here after visiting the accident site with his followers.

     No one had information how many labourers were engaged for the construction of the Chimney and how many were working at the time of accident, he said adding use of low grade materials could be the prime reason for the collapse of the structure.

     He also demanded compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the families of the deceased and Rs 5 lakh to each of the injured in that incident of Vedanta (BALCO).

     The former Chief Minister also dismissed the announcement of judicial probe by Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh of the incident and said Congress wanted a CBI probe into the matter.

     Congress also organized a picketing at the Parsabhata ground on the matter, in which several demanded registration of cases against Sterlite chief Anil Agrawal for the killing of scores of people.

     The Chhattisgarh administration had said only 41 people were killed in the September 23 incident of collapse of the 178-metre Chimney of Rs 5000 crore power project of Vedanta (BALCO) in Korba and 40 of the bodies have already been identified.