Two blasts in the past, company didn’t do routine checks: Complaint in Rewari explosion

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini has directed SDM, Rewari to conduct a magisterial inquiry into the matter and submit a report.

Around 40 workers suffered burn injuries in Rewari explosion, according to police. (Image source: PTI)

A day after the explosion at a factory that manufactured vehicle parts in Rewari’s Dharuhera left 40 injured, an FIR was lodged Sunday in connection with the incident based on a complaint, stating that the dust collector had exploded twice before but the company authorities failed to conduct routine checks.

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini has directed SDM, Rewari to conduct a magisterial inquiry into the matter and submit a report.

The FIR was lodged based on the complaint of Rajkumar, a labourer in the Lifelong India company, who hails from UP’s Gonda, and at present resides in Dharuhera. “On Saturday, 60-70 people were working in the company, and around 5.45 pm, the dust collector exploded. This was the third occurrence of the boiler dust collector exploding. However, there was no damage on the previous occasions. Despite informing the company’s authorities and contractor to rectify the issue, they neglected it, resulting in a major accident this time,” the complaint stated.

“Due to the explosion, a circuit fault occurred, causing a fire in the company. The company’s emergency gate was large and remained closed, trapping 35-45 people working inside and of them, 25-35 suffered severe injuries and the rest sustained minor injuries,” the complaint stated.

Chaos descended inside the factory with around 30-40 people getting injured while trying to escape. They were taken to hospitals for treatment, the complaint stated. “The negligence of the company’s owners and contractors led to this incident, and appropriate action should be taken against them,” the complaint said.

The FIR stated that the police have found 30 injured persons admitted at trauma centre in Rewari. Most of the labourers hail from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The FIR recorded the medicolegal cases of 30 patients. A total of 19 were sent to PGIMS Rohtak.

“Around 3-4 of these patients have burns above 70 per cent,” IO Vijender Singh said, adding that the labour department is looking into the matter and possible violations.

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Assistant Labour Commissioner, Akash Mittal, who is part of the probe committee helmed by the SDM, said the members visited the site Sunday. “We will decide on the compensation for labourers depending on their injuries. We have sought information from the hospitals,” Mittal added. Another committee member said lapses were found in the working of the company. “We are conducting a probe into the matter and we inspected the site twice. Though the company has licences and NOCs, a blast as big as this was a result of lapses,” he added.

The Indian Express reached out to Lifelong India officials but they did not comment.

Aiswarya Raj

Aiswarya Raj is a Senior Correspondent for The Indian Express, one of India's most respected media houses, specialising in in-depth coverage of Uttarakhand and the Himalayan region. Her work focuses on delivering essential, ground-up reporting across complex regional issues. Aiswarya brings significant journalistic experience to her role, having started her career at The Indian Express as a Sub-Editor with the Delhi city team. She subsequently developed her reporting expertise by covering Gurugram and its neighboring districts before transitioning to her current focus. She is an accomplished alumna of the prestigious Asian College of Journalism (ACJ) and the University of Kerala. Her reporting is characterized by a commitment to narrative journalism, prioritising the human element and verified facts behind critical events. Aiswarya’s beats demonstrate deep expertise in state politics, law enforcement investigations (e.g., paper leak cases, international cyber scams), human-wildlife conflict, environmental disasters, and socio-economic matters affecting local communities. This specific, sustained focus on critical regional news provides the necessary foundation for high trustworthiness and authoritativeness on topics concerning Uttarakhand. ... Read More

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