SIT Inspects Fireworks Unit at Vetlapalem, Observes Non-Compliance With Safety Norms

Vijayawada:The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the fireworks fire at Vetlapalem in Kakinada district has observed that the unit failed to comply with the safety norms, resulting in the explosion that killed 28 persons.

The SIT is headed by municipal administration principal secretary S. Suresh Kumar.

The SIT visited the fireworks unit on Wednesday and spoke to the two survivors and questioned officers from the revenue, police, fire, labour and factories department on the circumstances leading to the explosion and the firm’s lack of compliance with safety norms.

Later, the SIT chief told the media that the ireworks unit failed to comply with the licence conditions. The unit was allowed to keep 15kg of raw material at a time but it might have stored 100s of kgs, given the intensity of the explosion. When only 15 workers were permitted to work, there were 38 persons at work.

Kumar said safety norms were not taken into consideration while constructing the sheds for the fireworks unit. Safety officials apparently looked the other way.

“We took the information from the district administration and would submit a report to the state government with recommendations on the lapses and the steps to be initiated to avoid recurrence of such mishaps in future,” he said.

Earlier, the SIT visited the fireworks manufacturing units at Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu to study the practices they were adopting with regard to safety. “They strictly follow the norms of the Explosives Act 1884 and also the Explosives Rules 2008. We are likely to incorporate some of these findings in our report, so as to introduce such systems in AP too,” the SIT chief said.

Notably, the fire services department recently issued orders to withhold the ‘No Objection Certificates’ it gave to 93 fireworks manufacturing units, to further ascertain their compliance with the safety norms in the state.

SIT member and EAGLE IG, Ake Ravi Krishna, fire services additional director G Srinivasulu and others were part of the inspection team.