Telangana forms expert committee to probe chemical factory blast

Hyderabad, July 2 The Telangana government has constituted a four-member expert committee to investigate Monday’s explosion at Sigachi Industries in Pashamylaram, which claimed the lives of 40 workers and left several others injured.

The committee, to be headed by B. Venkateshwar Rao, Emeritus Scientist, CSIR-IICT, will identify the causes and establish the reasons and events that led to the major explosion.

The members of the committee are T. Prathap Kumar, Chief Scientist, CSIR-IICT, Surya Narayana, retired scientist, CSIR-CLRI and Santosh Ghuge, Safety Officer, CSIR-NCL, Pune.

The Labour, Employment Training and Factories Department on Wednesday issued an order, constituting the expert committee to submit a detailed report along with suggestions/recommendations.

The order mentions that a preliminary enquiry report was received on Monday from the Director of Factories. According to the report, a major explosion occurred in Sigachi Industries Limited, IDA, Phase-I, Pashamylaram, Patancheru Mandal, Sangareddy district on June 30 at about 9.20 a.m. The plant manufactures Microcrystalline Cellulose powder, which is used in tablets and capsules as a binding agent.

The report also mentioned that at the time of the incident, 143 persons were inside the factory premises.

The expert committee will find out if the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for worker safety was followed or not in the industrial unit. It will also ascertain whether there was any absence or lack of, or violation of compliance with, chemical and industrial processes that are required to be followed by the company management.

The committee has been asked to suggest/recommend a way forward to avoid/prevent such incidents/events in future in similar chemical and pharma industrial units.

According to the Government Order, the committee shall examine the management, staff and workers of Sigachi Industries and interact with various consultants/organisations/persons/government officials as deemed fit during its enquiry.

The committee has been directed to submit a detailed report with specific suggestions/recommendations within one month.

Director of Factories has been asked to assist the committee and provide necessary information.

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