A worker died on the spot and 15 others were wounded in an accident at a pharma unit, Srikar Laboratories Private Limited, in the Jawahar Pharma City at Parawada in Visakhapatnam district, on Tuesday morning. The accident happened in the ammonia compressor unit of the plant which produces intermediates.

The wounded are undergoing treatment in a private hospital in the city and the condition of some of them is causing concern.

The accident occurred on Tuesday morning in the ammonia compressor unit, where around 30 workers were on duty. There was an explosion at the mouth of the condenser and the ammonia gas leaked out, killing Ramakrishna (29), on the spot.

The other workers developed breathlessness and other symptoms and they were first shifted to a nearby hospital and later to a private hospital in the city.

Fallings standards B Satyanarayana Murthy, the local MLA, who visited the spot soon after the accident, said accidents had become a regular feature in the pharma city and the safety standards were appalling.

He said the Chief Minister had recently constituted a committee to go into the issue and that the committee had not met once. Even a safety audit had been conducted but to no avail, he complained. He wanted the State government to act immediately and take stringent steps against the erring companies which failed to maintain standards.

“They should not be allowed to play with the lives of the workers,” he said and demanded a compensation of ₹20-25 lakh to the next of kin of the dead worker.

Chinna Rao, the assistant inspector of factories, said a safety audit had been conducted recently in 91 units in the Visakhapatnam region and 10-15 of the units were found wanting, including Srikar Laboratories, in maintaining safety standards. A report would be submitted to the district collector soon on the issue, he added.

sarma.rs@thehindu.co.in

Related Topics