Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], July 1 : Telangana state high court advocate, Rama Rao, has filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) regarding the blast at the Sigachi Industries Limited pharmaceutical factory in Pashamylaram Industrial Area, which occurred on Monday. The complaint alleges that the incident, which resulted in several worker fatalities and injuries, was caused by the company's failure to follow safety protocols and negligence on the part of management.
According to the complaint, "Several workers have been killed after a suspected reactor explosion caused a fire in a chemical factory in Telangana. As per officials, the incident took place at the Sigachi Chemical Industry in Pashamylaram on Monday. As many as 108 workers were at the factory at the time of the blast, which could be heard about five km away. The explosion triggered a huge fire, and 15 fire engines were used to douse the flames. According to eye-witnesses, such was the impact of the explosion that workers were tossed in the air and fell several meters away."
"As the bodies of some victims were blown to pieces or charred beyond recognition, disaster occasioned due to failure in following the safety protocols, negligence on part of management, post disaster response of authorities was slow, indicating their unpreparedness, fire fighters had to reach the place from Secunderabad which is nearly 40 km away, necessary case may be directed to registered against Chidambarnathan Shanmuganathan, Dhanalakshmi Guntaka, Amit Raj Sinha, Sarveswar Reddy Sanivarapu, Vivek Kumar, Subbarami Oruganti Reddy, Rabindra Prasad Sinha, and Bindu Vinodhan (Directors/Management of Sigachi) for an offence of culpable homicide not amounting to Murder, direct the management to pay a sum of Rs 25,00,000 as compensation in case of deceased alongside a sum of Rs 10,00,000 for injured and disabled, investigations may be directed to be carried out with specific reference to cause of blast, safety audits may be conducted in all establishments through out the industrial areas of Telangana for preventing any repetition," the complaint further said.
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on Tuesday visited Sigachi Pharma Industries in Sangareddy district, where at least 34 people were killed and several others sustained injuries in a deadly explosion a day ago.
The Chief Minister held a review meeting and directed officials to submit a detailed investigation report into the cause of the blast.
While interacting with factory authorities, Chief Minister Reddy asked, "Don't conclude with assumption or general opinion. I need specific reasons for this accident. Only then can we address what happened here today."
The Chief Minister also enquired about the treatment status and hospital expenses of the injured victims.
He said, "How many people are unskilled and skilled labour? Have you segregated the number of skilled and unskilled workers who died after the blast?"
Revanth Reddy emphasised that such incidents should serve as a learning point for both the government and industry stakeholders. "We need to focus on what instructions we must give to avoid similar problems in other industries like this. There are two things we need from this: first, a detailed report, and second, accountability," he further said.
He directed the officials not to rely on earlier inspections or reports and insisted on fresh evaluations by new experts.
The Chief Minister also referred to possible compliance lapses by the industry and called for a review of past notices and penalties. So far, 34 people have lost their lives in the explosion and rescue operations continued at the site of the blast.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday expressed sorrow over the loss of lives in the explosion. An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakhs for the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured has been announced from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund.