Ranchi: Jharkhand high court held an urgent hearing on Sunday and directed the Bokaro deputy commissioner and SP to immediately ensure access to Bokaro Steel Plant of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), where protesters had allegedly blocked all entry and exit gates.Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad took up SAIL’s urgent petition at 2.15 pm, despite the court being closed for the Dussehra holidays.Appearing for SAIL, advocate Indrajit Sinha told the court that protesters, allegedly led by Bokaro MLA Shwettaa Singh and acting under the banner of the Visthapit Apprentice Sangh, had blocked the plant’s gates since Saturday. He submitted that about 5,000 workers and employees were stranded inside and unable to leave.Sinha said all 11 gates of the plant had been blocked, stopping the movement of workers, raw materials and finished products. He argued that the disruption had brought production and logistics to a halt and was causing an estimated loss of Rs 30 crore a day.SAIL also warned the court that continued disruption in the movement of raw materials and finished products could pose a serious operational risk to the plant, including possible damage to furnaces and other critical equipment.After hearing the petition, the court observed that a national asset such as the steel plant could not be allowed to be put at risk by an agitation. It directed the Bokaro DC and SP to take immediate steps to clear the obstruction and ensure free ingress and egress at the plant.The matter will be heard again on Oct 28, when the high court is scheduled to reopen after the holidays.
