Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Two days after a fire broke out inside the premises of Deepak Nitrite in Nandesari in Vadodara, an internal committee formed by the company as well as the probe committee of the Industrial Safety Department set up by the District Collector of Vadodara have ruled out that the fire occurred due to a boiler blast.
While the exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, Vadodara Collector AB Gor has decided to “scale up” the fire fighting strategies in the industrial belt.
According to experts, the fire that occurred inside the premises of Deepak Nitrite on Thursday started in a warehouse of the company which stores inorganic chemicals.
Officials of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) and the Industrial safety department have confirmed to the District Collector that the fire was not started by a boiler blast, as originally suspected by fire officials.
Collector AB Gor told The Sunday Express, “There was no blast in the boiler but the fire began in the warehouse storing inorganic chemicals… We are awaiting report of industrial safety officer, who is probing the cause. The report should be with us by Tuesday and help us determine the reason for the fire.”
Officials of the industrial safety department said that the company had been “cooperative” and shared details of the maintenance and operations of the boilers, that were found “undamaged in the fire”.
An official said, “The company recorded last steam test of the boilers conducted just about two weeks ago and annual maintenance in April. There were no anomalies reported in the boiler during their maintenance activity. Moreover, the boilers were found intact after the fire was brought under control.”
The injured employees of the company, authorities said, were undergoing treatment and stable. In a media statement regarding the incident, Deepak Nitrite said, “The incident occurred at our warehouse in the Nandesari facility. Our emergency response team, in partnership with the support of local authorities, brought the fire under control within a couple of hours of the incident. We would like to reiterate that there have been no casualties .”
Gor said that although the incident at Deepak Nitrite did not cause any casualty, it has called for “necessary discussion on better industrial safety management”. “I have decided to scale up the industrial safety strategy in the area, as the Chairman for the industrial fire safety and disaster management… I have invited all major industries in the Nandesari belt, including GSFC and IOCL to come together and discuss how we can mitigate damage during such incidents. There are regular drills already being undertaken. We have fire stations, and mechanisms available round-the-clock already. But, we need to have takeaways from this incident,” Gor said
Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
