PANJIM: The management of Goa Steels Ltd located at Radha Krishna Industrial Estate, Bicholim has been booked for allegedly acting in a negligent manner thereby endangering human life and personal safety of its staff/workers.
According to the police, an offence under Section 336 of the IPC has been booked against the management of the steel company located at Radha Krishna Industrial Estate, Bicholim. The complaint lodged by Lady Head Constable Anjani Dasharath Pirankar, states that the factory acted in a negligent manner thereby endangering human life and personal safety of its staff or workers. The negligence led to an incident of multiple explosions and fire in the furnace of the factory which was caused due to leaking of furnace during the evening shift of the factory. The incident occurred on May 9, 2024.
According to police, the blast occurred at a boiler while melting metal scrap. “The factory melts metal and the blast reportedly took place because the water got mixed in the furnace. A fire accident case has been registered and inquiry is on,” Bicholim Police Inspector Dinesh Gadekar had said.
According to the Bicholim Fire Services, it took an hour and 10 minutes for the four fire personnel to douse the fire.
“On 09/05/2024 received a phone call from an unknown number informing that a fire accident took place near rolling mill Bicholim. During the course of enquiry, it was learnt that boiler of company namely Orange Fox Steel Pvt Ltd at near Rolling Mill, Vatadev, Bicholim, Goa, accidentally caught fire,” statement issued by police read.
The case is being investigated by ASI S Gaonkar.
It may be recalled that the residents of the Hill View Colony in Bicholim were terrified as four major blasts at Kairav rolling mills furnace rocked the Muslimwada area on Thursday evening.
A scooterist, who was ferrying his mother, had a miraculous escape when fire balls crossed the boundary wall and landed on the road. The locals noticed the thick smoke billowing from the factory.
The residents were horrified as the blasts shook the walls of houses at Hill View Colony, located about 500 metres away. Some narrated that they thought an earthquake had occurred.
“There were four blasts. Our house vibrated. We felt the tremors. When we rushed out of the house, we saw black smoke billowing from the rolling mill. The smoke spread everywhere. When I reached the factory with my brother-in-law, I noticed the fire spreading near the boundary wall. The flames were flying all over. The wall too was vibrating,” an eyewitness had said.
Stating that four or five blasts took place, another resident of Hill View Colony, had said, “We thought it was an earthquake. Our house vibrated, even though it has a slab. When we rushed out, we saw there was fire everywhere. There were no lights. Earlier, I had made at least 10 complaints, but no action was taken on a single complaint.”
A third resident stated that a scooterist told him that the fire flew over his head as he was riding. “Anything could have happened to me, the scooterist told me,” he had said. “He told me his mother was with him. We were outside. Our wall was vibrating. There was thick black smoke which emanated from the factory. There were four to five blasts. Such blasts have not taken place in the last 25 years since I am staying here. The fire crossed their compound wall. It was like a bomb blast,” he narrated.
The Bicholim Fire Services said they received a call at 7.10 pm. The iron furnace caught fire, they stated. Just one fire tender rushed to the site and doused the fire. It took an hour and 10 minutes for four fire personnel to extinguish the fire. The factory owner had not provided the details of the estimated loss. The operation was carried out under the directions of Station Fire Officer Rahul R Desai, with four firemen, two drivers and a head constable.