The reactor blast in SB Organics chemical factory located in Chandapur village, Hathnoora mandal, of Sangareddy district, on April 3, 2024.
| Photo Credit: File photo
The National Green Tribunal (NGT), which had taken suo motu cognisance of a blast in a chemical factory last year, has delivered its judgment recently without any recommendations for action against the responsible.
Six persons were killed and many others were injured in the blast at SB Organics, located at Chandapur village, Hathnoora mandal of Sangareddy district, on April 3, 2024.
The principal bench of the NGT in New Delhi took suo motu cognisance of the report that appeared in The Hindu titled ‘4 killed in blast at drug manufacturing unit in Telangana’, after which the case has been transferred to the Southern bench.
The final order in the case was issued after reports were filed by the Telangana Pollution Control Board and the District Collector about the action taken.
The TGPCB’s report mentioned that hot oil leak from the jacket of the reactor, coming into contact with the reaction mixture (guanidine nitrate), resulted in the explosion followed by fire.
The status of the industry was reviewed by the task force committee, and the Board issued a closure order to the industry, due to its failure to implement necessary safety measures to prevent accidents, and causing pollution, the report said, clarifying that compensation was deposited with the Deputy Commissioner of Labour.
It also went on to explain the measures taken to prevent pollution through removal of hazardous material and waste water.
In compliance with the direction of the tribunal, an environmental compensation to the tune of ₹31 lakh was charged to the company, and paid by the latter.
The court took note of the fact that the industry footed the bill for the treatment of 12 of the 18 injured persons, after paying full wages during the period of treatment, and ruled that nothing survived for further consideration.
“I don’t understand why the NGT had to take this case suo motu to deliver this judgment. The order mentioned TGPCB, District Collector and the company as respondents, but not Director of Factories under the Labour Ministry who is actually responsible for monitoring the safety of the industries,” said K. Baburao, a retired scientist who was part of a committee constituted by the Factories Department for investigating into the explosion.
Draft report submitted by the committee, which has not yet seen the light of the day, mentioned several lacunae – including lack of qualified staff, absence of any documentation about the process, manual operation without safeguards, lack of cooling system, inadequate employee training, lack of safety protocols, and missing hazard analysis and risk assessment.
The draft report, accessed by The Hindu also flagged the regulatory failure, thanks to which the management of the company escaped for decades despite the poor and unsafe reactor design.
Published – March 05, 2025 12:28 am IST
