SANGAREDDY/HYDERABAD: The state government on Wednesday constituted an expert committee to investigate the explosion that killed at least 38 people at Sigachi Industries in Pashamylaram.
Rescue operations continued on Wednesday, with two more bodies recovered from the debris, bringing the official death toll to 38. Another 10 workers are still unaccounted for. Meanwhile, the company announced that it will offer an ex-gratia of Rs 1 crore to the kin of each deceased.
The committee, chaired by B Venkateshwar Rao, Emeritus Scientist at CSIR-IICT, has been tasked with identifying the causes of the blast and recommending measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The order to set up the four-member panel was issued on Wednesday by M Dana Kishore, Principal Secretary, Labour and Factories department.
The committee, which includes T Pratap Kumar (chief scientist, CSIR-IICT), Surya Narayana (chief scientist, CSIR-IICT), and Santosh Ghuge (safety officer, CSIR-NCL, Pune), has one month to submit its report.
The explosion, which occurred around 9.20 am on June 30 while microcrystalline cellulose powder was being manufactured for use as a binding agent in pharmaceuticals, caused extensive damage to the facility. At the time of the incident, 143 workers were present on-site.
Sigachi MD and CEO Amit Raj Sinha, who visited the site on Wednesday, said that external experts had inspected the remaining equipment to help determine the cause of the explosion. Internal and third-party assessments are underway, and findings will be shared with government investigators, he said.
Collector P Pravinya confirmed that blood samples from six persons have been sent for DNA analysis. So far, 18 bodies have been handed over to families, she said.
Sigachi to compare internal report with official version
Officials said DNA results for another 11 persons are awaited. Relatives of the missing gathered at the government hospital in Patancheru, where they expressed frustration over the slow pace of debris removal and delays in identifying the deceased. Many have spent days at the hospital, anxiously awaiting news. Rain has further hampered rescue efforts, adding to the distress of the families.
Meanwhile, Sinha stated that the company’s internal report would be compared with official investigations. Addressing concerns over the factory’s condition, Sinha said that while the building was old, equipment such as motors had been replaced or refurbished as needed. “We cannot run the facility with old machinery.
New equipment was installed where required,” he said. He rejected reports that the blast was due to a reactor failure, stating that preliminary indications pointed to a dust explosion in the dryer section. He added that Sigachi’s other units in the country had not encountered such problems and that no solvents were used at the facility.
Sinha said the company was focused on supporting the affected families, including clearing hospital bills and assisting with last rites. He noted that employees, including senior management, were present at hospitals and mortuaries. “Even our 81-year-old executive vice-chairman was there at the mortuary,” he said.
The government has announced immediate assistance of Rs 1 lakh for the families of the deceased.
The expert committee’s mandate includes a thorough review of the sequence of events leading to the explosion, checks on adherence to standard operating procedures for worker safety, and recommendations to strengthen safety in chemical and pharmaceutical units across the state.
