VIJAYAWADA/KAKINADA: A day after the blast at a firecracker manufacturing unit in East Godavari that left 10 injured, the district authorities on Saturday seized the unit in Vemavaram village and also raided other factories to check if they had the required licences and certificates.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy took stock of the situation and sought details of the two fire mishaps that took place in such units in the last 20 days. Agriculture Minister K Kanna Babu, after a meeting with Jagan on the day, told the media that the Chief Minister has ordered inspections at all such units across the State, and asked the officials to help the victims in Vemawaram in every possible way.
“The Chief Minister has ordered the seizure of the cracker manufacturing units in case if any error is found in their functioning,” said Kanna Babu. The Minister added the police department was asked to conduct thorough inspections at the factories, godowns and shops that sell crackers ahead of the Diwali festival.
Meanwhile, East Godavari Collector Muralidhar Reddy visited the 10 victims of the explosion at Kakinada government hospital and asked the doctors to provide the best available treatment.
The revenue officials seized the licence of the Vemavaram unit. According to officials, six of the nine workers who were injured in the Vetlapalem cracker unit explosion last month, have died during treatment. East Godavari has several cracker manufacturing units, all of whom had availed no-objection certificates till 2021 from the joint collector. Officials of were asked to conduct inspections at these units as many reportedly did not follow the safety measures.