Lovamma, 28, led a hectic life as a homemaker in Vasettipalem village in Atchutapuram mandal, Anakapalli district of Andhra Pradesh. She would begin the day early, cleaning the house and cooking breakfast and lunch for her husband, Y. Chinna Rao, 32, and their two children, 10 and 6.
Chinna Rao worked as a painter at Escientia Advanced Sciences Private Limited, a company that manufactures active pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediate chemicals, in the Atchutapuram Special Economic Zone (SEZ), 3 kilometres away. He would help Lovamma get their daughter ready for school and pack the children’s lunch boxes. His shift began at 8:30 a.m. When the children headed off to school with their father, Lovamma would continue with her household chores. She would take a nap in the afternoon before her husband returned.
On the afternoon of August 21, while Lovamma was resting, she got a phone call from a neighbour. “Lova, mee aayina company lo reactor pelioyindi anta, velli choodu em ayyindo (Lova, there has been an explosion at the company where your husband works. You need to go there and see what has happened),” the neighbour said, her words tumbling out.
Eighteen hours after that call, Lovamma had still not received any information about her husband either from the police or the factory management. She learned that the explosion had occurred at about 2:15 p.m. on August 21 and had left 17 people dead and 36 severely injured. According to a press release by the Anakapalli district administration, 381 employees work at the unit though it is unclear how many of them were present that day. The blast took place when the workers were on a break.
Since 2019, according to the Anakapalli district administration, 119 industrial accidents have occurred in undivided Visakhapatnam district comprising Visakhapatnam and Anakapalli, leading to the deaths of 120 people.
‘Companies simply do not care’
The day after the explosion, scores of workers from various pharma companies boycotted duty and gathered at the Escientia unit. They were joined by residents of neighbouring villages. Speculation was rife that more bodies were stuck on the first floor of the building, where the explosion had occurred due to leakage of a solvent.
Lovamma, too, had parked herself in front of the Escientia unit gate at the SEZ, with her daughter nestled in her lap. She was desperate for answers. “What should I tell my children,” she asked, tears streaming down her face.
Lovamma’s mother, Satyavathi, said that the police had shown them a body that had charred beyond recognition. “They claimed that it was Chinna Rao’s body, but we are not convinced. We are hoping that he is still inside. Maybe he is stuck under something? Please ask the officials to search under the rubble again,” she pleaded.
The workers were furious. “A month ago, an accident had occurred at the neighbouring Vasant Chemicals. One person died. What lessons have the factories learned? Do our lives even matter?” shouted a worker at the gate as the police tried to pacify the crowd.
Nearby, a group of women raised slogans against the factory management, demanding that they shut down operations. Two policewomen flanked them, asking them to keep calm, with little success.
The bodies of the people who had died in the tragedy had been shifted to hospital. But the family members of several victims refused to budge. They demanded an immediate audience with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
“This is not an isolated incident. People regularly die in industrial accidents. Companies do not adhere to safety measures. They simply do not care. Until when will such accidents be allowed to happen?” a woman demanded to know.
Officials tried to convince her that Naidu was scheduled to inspect the unit and meet the relatives of the victims soon. “We will be here until he arrives,” she retorted.
The Escientia Advanced Sciences Private Limited manufacturing unit where the blast occurred.
| Photo Credit:
V. RAJU
K. Venkatesh, who lost his cousin, Pudi Mohan, in the tragedy, sat crumpled under a tree. “Mohan was only 19. He had joined the unit two months ago. He had completed intermediate education and enrolled for a degree programme in distance mode. Meanwhile, he wanted to help his family financially and joined the company,” he said, clutching a photo of Mohan’s body that had been clicked for identification purposes. The photo showed injuries to Mohan’s chest and ear.
As the crowd waited for Naidu to arrive, Deputy Superintendent of Police of Parawada Sub-Division, K.V. Satyanarayana, tried to convince them that there were no more bodies lying inside the unit. He waved a list of the names of the dead and injured, as well as the names of the hospitals where they had all been shifted.
Seven severely injured workers had been shifted to a private hospital at Venkojipalem in Visakhapatnam, which is about 50 km from the accident site, while three more had been shifted to a hospital in Sheela Nagar in Visakhapatnam, about 35 km away. Sixteen injured victims had been admitted in a private hospital in Anakapalli town, about 20 km from the site of the explosion. The rest, who had sustained minor injuries, were shifted to NTR Hospital, Anakapalli.
All the bodies had been sent to the State-run King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam for postmortem. Some relatives refused to allow postmortems unless the government shut down the unit and paid compensation to the families.
Neela Devi, 19, had married Chiranjeevi, a fitter in the company, only six months ago. She is five months pregnant now and grieving the loss of her husband. “I want him back,” she cried.
Visakhapatnam District Collector M.N. Harendhira Prasad rushed to the hospital and told the victims that the government would help in every possible way. He announced an ex gratia of ₹1 crore to the kin of each of the deceased and ₹25 lakh to ₹50 lakh to each of the injured.
The blast and the response
A short drive away from the industry is the SEZ colony. Employees, people sitting at tea stalls, shoppers at vegetable markets, and travellers at bus stations all said they were shaken by the blast. Police personnel had been deployed along the streets and were busy relaying information on their walkie-talkies about the convoy route of the Chief Minister, who was scheduled to reach the factory by the afternoon.
The Atchutapuram SEZ is spread over nearly 6,000 acres, while the Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City (JNPC) at Parawada, the neighbouring mandal of Atchutapuram, is spread over 2,000 acres. Both the zones house 200 pharmaceutical, chemical, and other industries.
Industrial accidents are not new to the employees or the residents. However, the accident at Escientia on August 21 was different. “The explosion was so intense that we saw body parts strewn around the premises,” said A. Ramakrishna, a worker, who was in the building that day.
Thick flames engulfed the surroundings, witnesses said. Videos of raging fires and pictures of disfigured bodies went viral on social media within minutes of the explosion, creating panic among the residents. The district police and fire department personnel rushed to the spot. A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team was deployed for rescue operations by 5 p.m.
“We used some 14 fire tenders and around 50 personnel to douse the flames. It took us an hour to prevent the fire from spreading to the upper floors of the factory. We used boom lifts and cranes. We rescued 13 people after breaking the glasses on the third floor,” said Regional Fire Officer, Niranjan Reddy. Though the in-house firefighting equipment was in working condition, no emergency rescue team was present at the premises during the operations, Reddy said. The building lacked natural ventilation, he alleged.
L. Venkata Ramana, a senior worker from the unit, was absent on the day of the accident. He rushed to the spot on hearing about it. “I have never seen so many ambulances, firemen and NDRF teams chipping in for such a rescue operation. Many bodies were charred beyond recognition. I am very lucky,” he said.
The Deputy Inspector of Factories, Anakapalli, Narayana Rao, attributed the explosion to the leakage of MTBE (Methy Tertiary-Butyl Ether) solvent. “The MTBE solvent leaked from the pipeline flange on the second floor. It is highly inflammable and spread to the first floor. It might have come in contact with electrical panels, which might have caused vapour clouds, leading to the explosion,” he said. “The walls and pillars appear to have blown up under the impact of the explosion. People might have been trapped under the debris and died.” He described the incident as a “clear case of negligence by the factory management as it failed to stop the leakage.”
Chief Minister Naidu and Home Minister V. Anitha held a meeting with officials after inspecting the accident site. They also met the family members of the victims. Confirming to the media that “human negligence led to the accident,” Naidu promised stringent measures to curb such accidents. The Chief Minister and Home Minister said that the Escientia management were not cooperative and did not even respond to queries of government officials after the accident.
The police registered a first information report against the management of Escientia Advanced Sciences under Sections 106 (1) (causing death due to negligence not amounting to culpable homicide) and 125 (a) and (b) (endangering life or personal safety) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Suraksha Sanhita, which replaced the Indian Penal Code.
Led by Anakapalli District Collector Vijaya Krishnan, a high-level committee comprising the officials of the pollution control board, and of the revenue, factories, and police departments, has been formed to probe the incident.
A spate of accidents
The ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led National Democratic Alliance government has blamed the previous YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government for the lack of a proper policy to monitor industries, citing it as the major reason for recurring industrial accidents. YSRCP president and former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy refuted the allegations saying the current government had failed to follow up on a government order brought out during his tenure to monitor industries closely.
The order directs every company to generate a self-compliance report over the safety measures being taken on its premises. One month after the report is submitted, a committee comprising officials from the labour, revenue, and other departments is to inspect the company to check whether the report is accurate and to make recommendations if needed. The government gives the company 15 days to make the required amendments. Later, it is the responsibility of the joint collector to visit the company and check whether everything is in place.
Less than 24 hours after the Chief Minister warned factory managements of stringent action in case of any lapse in adherence to safety measures, another industrial accident occurred in a pharma unit, Synergene Active Ingredients, at JNPC, Parawada, in the early hours of August 23, injuring four workers. Of them, three succumbed to burn injuries two days later.
The District Secretary of the Centre of Trade Unions, Ganisetti Satyanarayana, said though accidents keep happening, the managements rarely bother to strengthen safety measures. “After an accident, authorities form a committee to ascertain the cause and the committee publishes a report. Its recommendations are never revealed. Safety audits are never conducted,” he said.
The District Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Anakapalli, K. Lokanadham, said that in 2019, the YSRCP government had issued government order No. 62, which specifies which establishments under the SEZ and the export processing zone are exempt from inspections. He demanded that the present government scrap this order.
Industries have been the major source of employment for many people from Andhra Pradesh. Workers from States such as Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Bihar also migrate to the State and work at factories at meagre salaries.
Tella Santosh, a worker from JNPC, said that he earns ₹11,000 monthly as a helper at a unit and works an eight-hour shift. “My work involves shifting load and helping engineers on duty. We are informed about the dos and dont’s, especially on what to touch and what not to,” he said.
Suresh Kumar, another worker, said that he has been trying to obtain a visa to work in a Gulf country for a long time. Until that happens, he said he has to work here to earn some money. “A number of workers are here only because they are unable to get visas. Compared to India, safety standards abroad are much better,” he said.
Post back-to-back incidents, a high-level meeting was organised by Andhra’s Home Minister, who hails from the same district. It was attended by managements, representatives of various industries from the SEZ and JNPC, apart from members of workers’ unions. At the meeting, there were mixed responses when workers were asked about the safety gear they wear or the precautionary measures they take at these factories, Anitha said. Some complained that they were not given any safety gear on duty, while some said that they were provided basic gear, such as gloves and shoes. Some representatives of industries said that safety gear was given as an option, but workers chose not to wear them.
“Many accidents are occurring in drug manufacturing companies because of issues pertaining to reactors. We have asked the factories to make safety gear mandatory for workers on duty. We have directed them to provide basic training to workers immediately after recruitment. Besides, before taking up work, the workers should be told about the do’s and dont’s,” she said.
Meanwhile, Lovamma found out the same day from the police that the disfigured body shown to her was her husband’s. As Lovamma went back home, Satyavathi, her mother, said, “I’m worried about my daughter. What will she do now?”
gilai.harish@thehindu.co.in
