Four workers were injured when the chemicals that they were mixing in a reactor gushed out and caught fire in a pharmaceutical company in Andhra Pradesh’s Anakapalli district on Friday, the police said.
The incident, which happened at Synergies Active Ingredients Private Ltd, a pharma unit at Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City in Parawada, about 20 km away from Visakhapatnam, is the second industrial accident in the same district within a span of 48 hours.
On Wednesday afternoon, a major explosion took place at Escientia Advanced Sciences Private Limited, located in the Atchutapuram pharma SEZ of Rambilli block which claimed 17 lives and left over 31 workers grievously injured. Parawada is just 13 km away from Atchutapuram SEZ.
On Friday, Anakapalli superintendent of police M Deepika Patil said that that the fire broke out around 1 am in the pharma unit of Synergies Active Ingredients Pvt Ltd when the workers were mixing a chemical powder and a liquid in the reactor.
“The vapours gushed out of the reactor got ignited by static electricity, leading to burn injuries to four persons. There were no deaths,” Patil said, adding that the exact cause of the mishap was yet to be ascertained.
On receiving the information, Parawada police rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to Indus Hospital at Visakhapatnam and the situation was under control.
State home minister Vangalapudi Anitha, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) parliament member from Anakapalli C M Ramesh, along with Jana Sena Party (JSP) MLA Panchakarla Ramesh from Pendurthi, called on the victims of the fire mishap at the hospital.
Ramesh said three of the injured – Lal Singh, Koher and Rossa – were from Jharkhand and the fourth one, Suryanarayana, was a chemist from Vizianagaram. “The condition of Suryanarayana is critical,” he said.
On receiving the information, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu spoke to Anakapalli district collector Vijaya Krishnan and instructed her to ensure that the injured workers receive the best possible medical treatment.
YSR Congress Party president and former chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday called on the injured workers of Escientia Pharma who are undergoing treatment at Usha Prime Hospital in Anakapalli. He interacted with them to understand their condition and the circumstances surrounding the explosion.
Speaking to reporters later, Jagan accused the Naidu-led government of not responding to the accident in time. He pointed out that no government leaders or officials had rushed to the site immediately after the explosion, leaving the victims without necessary emergency support.
“Even basic services, such as ambulances, were not provided, and the injured were transported to hospitals using company buses instead of appropriate medical transport,” he criticised.
He also called for a thorough investigation into the accident and stressed the need for existing safety protocols to be enforced to prevent future incidents.
Jagan recalled how his government had responded promptly to the major industrial mishap at L G Polymers in May 2020 within hours, providing compensation to the victims and support to their families. “My government had distributed ₹1 crore in compensation within 24 hours, set up safety measures, and provided financial aid to the injured.
He expressed disappointment that the government did not follow the safety reforms initiated in the previous tenure, which had implemented strict protocols and regulations in the wake of the LG Polymers incident.
Jagan emphasised that these protocols, if properly monitored, could have prevented the current tragedy. He urged the government to immediately provide compensation to all the affected families including injured and ensure safety measures are properly implemented in factories.
