Villagers around ordnance depot in Maharashtra's Wardha live in fear after deadly blast

The residents of Kelapur, Sonegaon, Chikni and Jamni villages, located close to the ordnance depot, say they are scared of living so close to the ammunition and blasts all the time.
At least six people were killed and 10 others injured in the explosion while ammunition was being unloaded by labourers for disposal. | PTI
At least six people were killed and 10 others injured in the explosion while ammunition was being unloaded by labourers for disposal. | PTI

SONEGAON: The residents of villages surrounding the explosive demolition ground at Pulgaon town in Wardha district of Maharashtra, where an explosion claimed six lives on Tuesday, have been living in the grip of fear.

The residents of Kelapur, Sonegaon, Chikni and Jamni villages, located close to the ordnance depot, say they are scared of living so close to the ammunition and blasts all the time.

They feel living in these villages has become quite dangerous.

Vandan Jadhav (46), a farmer from Kelapur village, which has a population of around 1,200 people, says he felt "terrorised" after the explosion on Tuesday.

"The trucks carrying unserviceable ammunition pass through the roads located along our houses. We are compelled to think what if that ammunition blasts while being transported to the demolition ground," he said.

"Due to the ammunition blasts, the walls of our houses have developed cracks. The utensils kept in the houses and the tin roofs start making noise due to the tremors created by the blasts," he said.

According to Jadhav, around 10 blasts are carried out everyday and if the quantity of the ammunition is more, the number of blasts goes up.

Manohar Bahote, employed as a contract labourer for loading and unloading ammunition, said, "We stay around 50 to 60 metres from the blast pit, which is around 6 feet deep. Once the blasts are over, we rush to the pit to collect the ammunition remains. We start at 5 am and the entire exercise continues till 10 am."

"Although small incidents of blast occur routinely, today's incident has made us think about working and staying here. It is a very dangerous exercise," he said.

"All the villagers are in a state of shock and fear after today's blast," he added.

Another resident, Suryakant Borkar, said, "We are in a state of shock. We feel terrorised."

At least six people were killed and 10 others injured in the explosion while ammunition was being unloaded by labourers for disposal.

The blast took place between 7.10 am and 7.15 am at the explosive demolition ground near the Central Ammunition Depot (CAD) at Pulgaon town, a defence official said.

Spread over 1,200 acres of land in a radius of 28 kms is Asia's biggest ammunition depot, wherein outdated ammunition from the ordnance factory across the country are brought to be destroyed.

Another Kelapur villager said around 100 to 200 casual labourers go to the demolition ground around 4 am everyday.

"After the ammunition blasts, the labourers collect steel, copper and other metal remains. We earn around Rs 200 to Rs 300 daily and the work is undertaken Monday to Saturday here," the villager said.

Villagers from Kelapur and Sonegaon alleged that the contractor does not give them wages on time and gives only 25 per cent of the collected metal to them, keeping the remaining 75 per cent to himself.

The villagers said it was just a year back that the fence around the entire demolition ground was completed and the contractor was assigned three to four years back.

"Before that, the Army used to load and unload the ammunition on its own and the villagers used to collect the remains," they said.

"However, from the last four years the labourers working under the contractor do the loading and unloading work and collection of ammunition remains," he said.

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