THOOTHUKUDI: In what is claimed to be the first steam pipe explosion at the Thoothukudi Thermal Power Station (TTPS), two labourers were killed and two suffered grievous burn injuries after a downcomer (an external pipe leading to the bottom of a boiler) burst while they were at work in the facility on Sunday.
According to TTPS sources, the downcomer of a boiler at the unit 5 in the station exploded all on a sudden in the evening hours, killing M Arumugam (39) of Muthunagar and K Murugaperumal (27) of Sekkarakudi on the spot and injuring N Syed Umar (27) of Samayanallur and R Vignesh of Sayalkudi.
The burst occurred around 6 pm, sources said, attributing the reason to high pressure in the steam pipe at the fifth unit in the coal-fired power station owned and operated by the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation.
All the four workers on contract were engaged at work close to the boiler when the downcomer burst, sources said. No sooner than the mishap occurred, the officials shut down the 5th unit to contain the gravity of the explosion and ensure the safety of other labourers.
While on an average 500 staff, a majority of them contract labourers, are at work in all the five units, about 50 workers are engaged in the fifth unit. The attendance, however, was thin today being Sunday, an official source said.
A unionist requesting anonymity claimed that inferior quality of machinery led to the burst in the downcomer.
“It is unfathomable how the incident happened. It is strange. So far, this type of pipe burst mishap has not happened in the facility. We will come to know about what led to the flaw only after a thorough investigation,” TTPS chief engineer M Thangaraj told Express.
Collector M Ravi Kumar, Superintendent of Police Ashwin M Kotnis and other higher officials rushed to the plant and inspected the site.
Sources said officers from BHEL are visiting the facility on Monday to check the quality of the equipment.
Of the two injured, Umar has been admitted to the Thoothukudi Government Medical College Hospital, while Vignesh is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in the city. Thermal station police have registered a case.