Chittagong Deputy Commissioner Mesbah Uddin, who received the report from the head of the committee, said journalists on Wednesday, said negligence of duty by the two was responsible behind the accident.
While reading out the probe report, the DC said the accident could have been averted if the two accused officials of the fertliser factory had discharged their responsibilities properly.
“After reviewing testimony, written depositions and evidences, the probe team came to the decision that Dilip Kumar Barua, deputy chief engineer (electric) and Noquibul Islam, general manager (technical and maintenance) of the fertiliser factory were responsible for the accident,” said Mesbah.
“The plant is not safe for anybody if the two guilty officials still hold their present official posts. We will notify about their negligence in duty to the government and recommend the secretary of the Ministry of Industries taking stern punitive action against the duo,” added the Chittagong DC.
The fertiliser factory is consisted of two separate departments – operations and maintenance. Previously the operations department informed the maintenance department about the faults in the safety tools of the plant. Although the technicians were dispatched, they could not repair the faults.
Although Dilip Kumar Barua and Noquibul Islam were entrusted with taking care of the technical faults, both of them signally failed in their duty.
In the written deposition, Barua conceded that he never did the repair and maintenance work and he even did not go to the accident spot when the emergency situation arose.
Chittagong district administration formed the probe committee soon after the accident on August 23.
Headed by Md Mominur Rashid, Chittagong additional deputy magistrate, the three-member probe committee was asked to submit its report within seven working days.
The probe team prepared the report after recording depositions of 10 officials and employees of the fertliser factory.
The probe report also divulged that the five essential safety tools, that were needed to avert any possible gas leak, had been out of commission for a long and triggered the accident at the state-owned fertliser factory.
The cooling or refrigeration compressor system for reducing temperature of the tank has been out of order for more than three years. The two pressure gauges to measure the gas pressure has been out of commission for a long. The two pressure vents used for releasing excessive gas from the tank was inoperative during the time of the accident. The flare system to automatically control the gas pressure of the tank was not also function during accident, revealed the probe report.
