ANGAMALY: Champannoor Industrial Estate here witnessed violent scenes when the local residents gheraoed the officers of the Pollution Control Board and the Angamaly municipality in protest against their indifferent attitude in preventing the careless handling of dangerous goods in a chemical factory endangering the lives of the residents. In a devastating fire, a factory producing thinner, polish and turpentine was gutted at Champannoor, near here on Thursday night. The police, the Fire and Rescue Services personnel and the local people took more than four hours to bring the fire under control. However, no casualty has been reported. The fire broke out at Chemtech Chemicals situated at the Champannor Industrial Estate at 10.35 pm. The first unit of the Fire and Rescue Services personnel reached the spot within minutes from Angamaly.A police team led by CI J Kuriakose and SI Kerson also joined the fire-fighting operation. They had a tough time clearing the road for the fire tenders to reach the mishap site. SP T Vikram and ASP Rahul Nair were also present throughout the night to monitor the operation.About 20 fire tenders from Ernakulam and Thrissur districts, Kochi Refineries Ltd, Indian Navy and the FACT took part in the operation.Meanwhile, the residents observed a hartal in Champannoor on Friday in protest against the slackness of the government officials and other agencies in forcing the factory management to follow the guidelines strictly. The factory is using acetone and toluene as raw materials to produce turpentine, thinner, polish and sealer. Both the raw materials and the products are highly inflammable. The four employees sleeping on the first floor of the factory office alerted the local people when the fire broke out. The people immediately informed the Fire and Rescue Services personnel and the police. Despite their efforts, the factory was almost gutted. A lorry parked inside the factory was also gutted. There were about 400 drums of 200-litres capacity inside the factory. A scientific expert from Aluva, the factories inspector, electrical inspector, Pollution Control Board officials and the municipal authorities conducted inspections at the factory. But the cause of the fire could not be ascertained. The local people alleged that the huge quantity of raw materials stored in the underground tanks violating the permitted limit might have led to the explosion and the subsequent fire. The police have taken the accounts manager, the marketing manager and four employees who were sleeping inside the factory at the time of fire into custody to collect evidence. But the owner of the factory could not be traced till late in the evening. The police are investigating the cause of the fire.
Comments
0 comment