VIJAYAWADA: The death toll in the boiler blast at GS Alloy Castings Limited in Surampalli village rose to four on Sunday morning with two more workers — Mujahid Ahmed, 26, and Satyanarayana, 35 — succumbing to injuries while undergoing treatment.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu visited Andhra Hospital at Gollapudi and interacted with bereaved families, assuring them of support. “Officials have been asked to look into the reasons behind the mishap. In order to prevent untoward incidents, industries and factories should maintain safety measures set by fire safety officials,” Naidu said.
The Chief Minister promised the families of the four deceased workers Rs 6 lakh each from the management as insurance and Rs 5 lakh from the state government under the Chandranna Bheema scheme. He also announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh each for the critically injured workers and `2 lakh for those who suffered minor injuries.
Police and fire safety officials said the blast occurred in the boiler unit of GS Alloy Castings due to the building up of excess steam pressure following accumulation of waste which reacted with molten iron in the boiler and hit those around.
Doctors told TNIE the condition of the two workers was critical. “Jabbar and Ramesh Nayak are in a very bad state. They are on ventilator support,” a medico said. District fire officials said the casting company belonging to Ghanta Prasad Rao had flouted fire safety norms.
The nine people working near the boiler at the time of its explosion were not wearing any kind of safety gear to protect themselves from high temperatures.
Even non-heated surfaces near the boiler can be uncomfortably warm, however, employees of the firm seem unaware of the dangers. “Care must be exercised to prevent thermal hazards near the boiler. The company in question has been served notices over poor safety standards several times. None bothered to provide safety kits to employees,” said Krishna district fire safety officer D Niranjan Reddy.
As per norms, the management should provide protective equipment such as hard hats, respirators, ear plugs, goggles, gloves and safety shoes to its workers. The Gannavaram Police has requested the firm’s management to submit CCTV footage installed in the boiler unit for investigation.