Factory, government blamed

MAHABOOBNAGAR: Negligence on the part of the management of Niharika Chemicals and lack of proper supervision by officials concerned were the reasons for the fire accident at Niharika in the Polepally Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Jadcherla mandal in the district. The mishap claimed the lives of five workers.Junior fitter Anil (20) from Orissa, junior engineer Robert Charles (45) from Giddalur in Prakasam district, helper B Sekhar Reddy (36) from Shadnagar mandal, fitter G Sandeep (31) from Odisha and Krishna (30) from Suryapet died in the mishap. Another worker, Kokila Naik, from Odisha is undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad. Jadcherla circle inspector of police A Ravindra Reddy said they registered a case under Sections 304A, 338, 286 of IPC.Locals said negligence was the only reason for the fire accident. Though they had planned to set up a chemical factory six years ago, the company installed the machinery, conducted a trial run and abandoned it midway. Government officials concerned too failed to inspect the factory regularly.  Recently, the management started shifting the machinery to another place without following safety norms. This caused a fire mishap in the factory, locals explained. Though, the accident has claimed five lives, only the staff of the factory have visited the place. No official from the management side visited the area. The management did not bother even to console the victims at the hospital.  NO LICENCE: Chief inspector of factories G Venkanna said no permission had been given to Niharika Chemicals to set up a chemical factory at Polepally. He said one Dr Srinivas applied for licence to set up a factory in 2005 but was denied by the inspector of factories. Yet, Venkanna said, the management might have conducted trial runs in the factory. As the trial run of the factory was not satisfactory, the management abandoned the factory in the middle and there were no regular operations. The chemicals used during the trial run were not removed from the premises.The lab equipment has been purchased by Anoos Labs, Shadnagar recently. The buyer engaged a contractor, Ravi, to shift the machinery, Venkanna said. A preliminary enquiry conducted by officials revealed that Niharika management used gas cutters while shifting the machinery though flammable equipment should not be used in chemical factories.Mirdha Debananda, a labourer hired by Anoos Labs, said that he, along with 15 others, had gone to the Niharika factory to shift the machinery to Anoos Labs. Five persons climbed the machines and used gas-cutters to remove iron rods. The sparks from gas-cutters spread to chemical drums and the factory was engulfed in fire immediately . Of the five workers, one died on the spot and the other four died in the hospital, Debananda recalled.An eyewitness, G Krishna of Polepally, said he had rushed to the factory after the fire broke out and alerted the ‘104’ and ‘108’ emergency services staff.