These two young men were luckier than a 16-year-old, who, factory workers said, died after inhaling a poisonous gas in July. The doctors, however, said that he had recovered and died of gastroenteritis later.

The workers point out that three to four of their colleagues collapse with symptoms of poisoning and have to be rushed for medical treatment every month. Said Dr Shyam Lal Singhla, the factory doctor: "An increasing number of cases have been coming to PGI recently. Last month, I got seven to eight cases who complained of giddiness, vomitting and difficulty in breathing. I administered them first aid and within a days, they were on the move." The workers said that after Jovan Lal complained of chest pain, he was taken to a factory doctor (All the cases are first referred to this doctor.) "For two days, he remained under private treatment and it was only after his condition deteriorated that he was rushed to the PGI."

Captain G.S. Grewal (retd), Markfed chief manager, accuses the workers of ignoring the safety equipment provided. "We give them gas masks and gloves but they remove these as soon as the supervisor is out of sight. They are illiterate and don't understand the risk they are taking. Moreover, these workers are on a contract basis, so Markfed is not responsible for them," he says.

A factory worker agrees. "Mostly, the accidents occur at night -- the supervisor is sleeping and the workers take the opportunity to remove the masks. But even if the workers don't take precautions, it doesn't excuse the management from the responsibility to provide a proper work environment."

For one thing, the unit should be air-conditioned. At present, a number of coolers are installed but they are insufficient to lower air temperature to a point where the gas is less volatile. The factory employees 30 to 40 men on contract to mix and pack the pack pesticides.

The 75,000-litre capacity plant manufactures 15 pesticides. Recently, the plant discontinued manufacture of two very poisonous pesticides, Monochromatophose and Qinalphose, as the number of "poison" cases was increasing.

Earlier this week, Markfed managing director G.S. Sandhu ordered the plant to be shifted from S.A.S. Nagar to Singhpura (near Zirakpur). "The new plant will be air-conditioned and automatic so as to involve minimum labour. It will be ready within a year's time," he said. Till then, he assured that a similar situtaion wouldn't arise and all the measures will be taken to ensure the safety of the workers.