Pollutant industries compelled to pay insurance

| 28 September 1998 11:56 IST

Goa has identified at least nine major and several other small hazardous industries, who would be now compelled to disburse monetary relief to the victims of the hazardous substances the industries handle in the factory or on the road.

Unlike the erstwhile Congress government, the new coalition government led by Dr Wilfred de Souza has decided to bring into force seven-year old Public Liability Insurance Act, which was not implemented till date.

Labour minister Dr Kashinath Jalmi has instructed all the concerned industries in the state to take insurance policy from the General Insurance Corporation, equivalent to its paid-up capital but not exceeding Rs 50 crore.

The units of major hazard potential, identified under national criteria for the purpose, are Zuari Industries Ltd, Indian Oil Corporation, Novartis (I) Ltd, Ciba Speciality Chemicals, HPCL's LPG plant, Finolex Essex Industries Ltd, Binani Industries Ltd, Filpack (I) Pvt Ltd and Teksid Kalyani Iron Foundry Ltd.

Travellers in Goa would be now relieved since accidents of tankers carrying ammonia or such other hazardous substances is a common feature in the tourist state, due to which even casualties have taken place sometimes in the past. The authorities were also turning blind eye towards leaving of hazardous gas at midnight in some big factories, causing internal injuries to the people from surrounding areas.

Dr Jalmi has also announced his plans to amend the factories rules, making the pre-employment medical check up a compulsory feature in all the industries, large or small, in the state. The routine check up would be then held once in five years for the workers below 45 years and every three years for those above 45 years.

In a meeting held with the local industrialists as well as the labour unions, Dr Jalmi has also appealed to them to insure their workers under general insurance scheme in order to assure them monetary relief in case of accidents, death or permanent disability, even after leaving the job, upto the age of 80 years.

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