Production at the Visakhapatnam steel plant was affected on Thursday as executives and employees protested over the death of a manager in a bus accident. They blamed bad roads for frequent accidents inside the township, and demanded a job in the junior executive cadre to one of the family members of the deceased employee.

Bitra Dhana Rao, 52, died on the spot when an RTC bus hit him in the morning near the office of Executive Director (Works).

He was working as Manager in Light and Merchant and Medium Mills (LMMM). The members of the Steel Executives Association (SEA) staged a demonstration which was supported by the employees’ unions.

Employees from LMMM, wire rod mill and medium merchant and structural mill, participated in the day-long dharna.

During negotiations, the management reportedly offered to provide a non-executive job to one of the family members of the deceased, but the employees insisted on an executive job. Union leaders complained that accidents occur frequently in the area due to the poor condition of roads.

A CITU leader, V. Dhanaraju, lost his life in the same area a month ago.

Union leaders said that three contract workers died in separate accidents in a month.