The Hindu : Owner indicted for fire at footwear factory

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 18, 2002

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Owner indicted for fire at footwear factory

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JUNE 17. A fact-finding team of the National Campaign on Labour has indicted a footwear factory owner for the gruesome fire, which claimed around 42 lives in Agra city in Uttar Pradesh on May 24, saying he had ignored safety norms and violated labour laws.

The factory at Jeoni Mandi area was like a `tinder box' with hardly any fire or other safety equipment in place, it said.

The four-member team, representing different central trade unions, submitted a 33-page report after a visit to the factory and interaction with officials, eye-witnesses and survivors. It said the factory was supposed to produce only shoe uppers but actually manufactured finished shoes. Besides, it employed children, some of whom also perished in the fire. The factory was not inspected along with other units, despite orders to do so. Strangely, it was issued a licence by an Assistant Director of Factories instead of the Deputy Director who was the designated authority.

``A factory, which employed more than 300 workers, did not have any provisions for the safety of workers. The lone fire extinguisher was not working; there were no sand bags, water source or any other safety and protective equipment. It was practically a tinder box,'' the report said.

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