HYDERABAD: As tension builds up over the transport of ammonium nitrate from Chennai to Hyderabad, the Telangana Industries Department decided to inspect Salvo Explosives and Chemicals — the company that will receive the chemical that caused a massive explosion recently in Beirut, Lebanon — on Tuesday.
The consignment of 180 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, being transported in 10 trucks, will reach Salvo by
August 12, A Shyam Sundar Reddy, the company’s managing director told Express. Salvo had bought 690 tonnes of the compound in February in an auction held by the Chennai Customs. But it was only after concerns were raised regarding the safety of storing it at the Sattva Container Freight Station in Chennai that it was allowed to be transported to Hyderabad.
Allaying fears, Reddy said, “We are an explosives company, which caters to mining companies such as Singareni Collieries. We will use the ammonium nitrate for making explosives and there is no need to worry. As an explosives company, we handle around 1,500 tonnes of ammonium nitrate every month”. The police visited the site on Monday morning and inquired if the company had the necessary permissions for receiving the consignment, he added.
In 2015, this ammonium nitrate was imported by Amman Chemicals as fertiliser from Korea. However, Chennai’s Customs confiscated the it as the importer did not have the necessary licence and stored it at Sattva CFS since then
“Although the company has a good track record, a team will be sent on Tuesday to inspect its storage capacities,” a senior government official told TNIE. This was after Industries Minister KT Rama Rao directed Industries Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan to conduct safety audits.
Rama Rao, in a tweet, said, “Directed Industry department secretary @jayesh_ranjan garu (sic) to get a thorough Industrial safety audit done for all factories and manufacturing units in Telangana within a week. Non-compliance of safety norms will be dealt with strictly”.
Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan also took cognisance of the issue and asked concerned officials to assess the situation.