Bhilai, Oct 08: The gallery structure that supports conveyor belts K-9-5 and K-9-6 used to transport coke from SAIL-Bhilai Steel Plant’s Coke Oven Battery 9 to Blast Furnaces collapsed at around 8.30 pm on Oct 07, 2020. No one was injured in the incident.
Senior officers of the Plant including Executive Director (Works) Rajeev Sehgal along with officers of Coke Ovens & Coal Chemicals Dept and other central shops and agencies of the Plant rushed to the spot to assess the extent of the damage and its impact on production.
About a couple of months back, the Plant management had already set in motion steps and measures to assess the strength of the structure and take precautions. In fact, work was already in progress for providing additional support to strengthen the gallery. Action in this regard had already been taken by putting up props and additional columns to support the structure. However, despite the precautionary measures, the gallery collapsed. The Plant management has now taken up repair work of the galleries on war-footing.
Meantime, steps are being made by the Plant management to keep COB 9 running by making alternative arrangements to shift coke from COB 9 to blast furnaces by road, so that normalcy of production is maintained and the effect of the incident on plant performance is minimised.
