Worker dies after falling into manhole at Numaligarh Refinery Limited premises

Siliguri: A worker of Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) in Rangapani died when he fell into a manhole on the refinery premises while he was working there. The death has raised serious concerns about worker safety at the company. Other workers staged a protest on Friday demanding safety measures in front of the refinery.

The deceased has been identified as Rajesh Das (30). He was the only earning member of his family and was a resident of the East Rangapani area. According to reports, Rajesh, who was employed as a truck driver transporting oil for NRL, was at work as usual on Thursday. While taking his truck to the service tank, he accidentally fell into an open manhole.

After a search, he was rescued but found unconscious. He was immediately rushed to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.

Local Panchayat members have also accused NRL of gross negligence, claiming the company failed to ensure basic safety measures for its workers.

“There were no adequate safety precautions in place and the company lacked an ambulance equipped with oxygen and other medical facilities. After Rajesh fell, he was transported to the hospital in a goods vehicle. This is unacceptable,” said Sudhangshu Mandal, a panchayat member of Rangapani.

The protesters have demanded that the company take safety measures for the workers and someone from Rajesh’s family be given a job at the company.

Later, the NRL authority held a meeting with workers and agreed to their demands. However, they denied commenting on anything to the media.