VASCO: Mormugao DySP Nilesh Rane on Wednesday said that there was negligence on the part of the contractor and the management of Zuari Agro Chemical Limited (ZACL) in the urea plant blast, which killed three workers on Tuesday. He added that the Vasco Police will register a FIR and arrest those involved in the negligence.
Rane said that the plant was shut down for annual maintenance, while the Bokaro Mechanical Works from Ratnagiri, Maharashtra had engaged workers for maintenance work.
He said that the workers were working on a condenser water tank in the urea plant and were supposed to remove the cap for the manhole by using a cold works process. However, the workers used a hot works process with a gas cutter machine and when it was lit, it caused the explosion of the tank and the lid went off and three workers were thrown off at about 13 metres and died due to the impact on the surface.
According to Rane, the police after receiving the information immediately alerted the District Disaster Management Committee and all the concerned authorities and rushed to the spot. But since the plant was shut and there was no work going on, there was no leakage of hazardous gas and also there was no need of evacuation thereby averting a major problem.
The police officer said that upon examination, along with the fire brigade, deputy collector and SDM and the inspectors of the factories and boilers, it was found that there was negligence on behalf of the contractor as well as the management. The police will take stringent action against those found involved in the incident.
Rane said that since it was cold works, the workers should have been told not to use the gas cutting machine since there was every possibility of an explosion. Also it appeared that no adequate safety measures were taken by the contractor, he said, adding that the police will register a case and make arrests if necessary.
