Once bitten, twice shy-- seems to be the dictum that Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (Balco) is following after its under-construction chimney collapsed on September 23 killing 41 people.
The Vedanta-controlled company invited a construction expert from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee to check the quality of the second chimney that Gannon Dunkerly and Company Limited (GDCL) had constructed near the collapsed chimney just six months ago.
The GDCL had bagged the contract for building two chimneys from Shandong Electric Power Construction Corporation (SEPCO)—the Chinese company that was awarded work for setting up 1200-Mw power plant in Balco plant. The construction work of the first chimney was completed about six months ago while the work for the second was in progress when the mishap took place. The distance between the two chimneys is about 100 meters.
