By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, April 4, 2016 : The factories and boiler office, Jajpur, has asked the Tata Steel plant here Kalinga Nagar to stop its operations following a huge explosion at its Blast Furnace IV dry pit on Friday.

According to reports, the steel producer has been directed to stop its production activities till all the equipment of the Blast Furnace function normally.

It may be mentioned here that a similar instruction had been given five years ago to Tata Refractories at Lakhanpur in Jharsuguda district to stop its operations for gas leakage. Power supply to the plant was also disconnected.

The untreated water from Tata Refractories was also polluted the local water sources and agricultural lands.

The reports added that on Friday, some contractual workers of United Air Express of Jamshedpur were working in the Blast Furnace when the hot pipes in the structure went off after coming in contact with water. The intensity of the blast was so high that the defense wall of the furnace developed cracks.

As many as six workers were injured in the incident.

The Tata Steel company officials are still pondering over the reason of the blast. They have called the officials of the foreign company which built the defense wall for ascertaining the reason of the cracks.

Assistant labour officer Renuprabha Patnaik visited the plant on Saturday to make an on-the-spot inquiry of the accident. She has sought a detailed report from the Tata Steel authorities on the mishap.

According to trade union leader Bidyadhar Mohanty, the steel project which started operations five months ago has posed serious threats to the workers engaged in the facility due to improper maintenance of the boiler units and other important installations.

The assistant director of factories and boilers Kedaranth Hansda, who visited the plant on Saturday, has asked the company authorities to stop production until necessary corrections are made.