Are Dahisar workers paying the price for toxic fumes? Five workers hospitalised

Five employees of a Dahisar workshop were rushed to Kandivalirsquos Shatabdi Hospital last Saturday after suffering severe respiratory distress allegedly due to toxic fumes from a metal refinery operating in the same building Though discharged within a day workers say the exposure has left lasting effectsAuthorities act but lateThe fire department responding to an RTI filed by Milan Dave owner of Milan Exim inspected the refiners setup and recommended civic and pollution authorities to take action ldquoWe have acknowledged the issue and issued a demolition notice to JSK RefineryHowever the matter is in court The hearing is on April 2 after which we will proceed as per the courtrsquos orderrdquo said Sanjay Sambra engineer BMC R North wardWorkers of the Dahisar workshop who were hospitalised after allegedly inhaling toxic fumes from a refinery in the same buildingAn MPCB official said ldquoWe have issued proposed directions under the Air and Water Acts on March 13 and scheduled a personal hearing in the first week of April Further action will followrdquo Police have registered multiple complaints and an FIR in the matterRefinery respondsldquoI understand the concerns about my terrace operations and will try to resolve them as soon as possible However Milan Dave is raising these issues due to ulterior motives related to a terrace ownership disputerdquo said JSK Refinery owner Prashant Prakash SoniOwner SpeakMilan Dave owner of Milan Exim a diamond polishing unit in Vadhwani Industrial Estate said his workshop operates on the ground floor while JSK Refinery runs on the first floor and an allegedly encroached terraceldquoI have been concerned about this for months Many of my workers and even I have suffered skin burns and respiratory issues due to these emissions There is a power installation where the burning droplets fall and a metro station just 60 feet awayThis is a grave health and fire hazard I donrsquot understand how authorities have allowed thisrdquo Dave said He alleged that exhaust systems on the terrace release eyeand throatirritating fumes along with acidic droplets throughout the day putting nearly 210 workers at riskMilan Daversquos timeline of complaints and action soughtOctober 17 First letter to BMC flagging terrace encroachment and loss of accessDecember 3 Dahisar police accepted a written complaint after a 100 callDecember 7 Police visited the site but took no actionDecember 26 Visit to Dahisar police station complaint registration initially deniedDecember 29 Second letter to BMC R North wardJanuary 1 Third letter to BMCJanuary 2 First complaint to Borivli fire officeJanuary 23 Fourth letter to BMC second complaint to fire officeJanuary 24 First complaint to MPCBJanuary 28 Second complaint to MPCBFebruary 10 BMC issued demolition notice to JSK Refinery after repeated followupsFebruary 16 First noncognisable complaint registered by policeFebruary 16 RTI filed with fire department and MPCBFebruary 24 Second noncognisable complaint registeredMarch 14 Letter sent to muliple authorities including MPCBMarch 26 FIR registered by policeMarch 26 The fire department in RTI response inspected terrace setup and flagged it to BMC and the policeWorkers recount ordealBalram Pandey 48 supervisorlsquoI was coughing and felt constant tightness in my chest with heavy breathing Five of us were hospitalised for a day I believe it was due to the toxic fumes from the terracersquoAbhishek Rajput 27 ratnakalakarlsquoWe were first rushed to Bhagwati Hospital in Borivali and then shifted to Shatabdi by ambulance We were discharged on Sunday but we havenrsquot resumed work yet Wersquore still recoveringrsquo Sameer Shaikh 26 ratnakalakarlsquoWe ignored the discomfort earlier but this time it got serious I was given oxygen support twice and kept under observationrsquoNeeraj Goswami 22 ratnakalakarlsquoWe have seen these issues increase over the past one to two months including burns from sparks and breathing problems due to toxic fumes Irsquom still on medication and recoveringrsquo