Kundli fire: Factory was operating without NOC

Tribune News Service

Mukesh Tandon

Sonepat, June 28

The factory at Kundli, where six persons were killed and over 20 sustained burns after a major fire broke out on May 15, was running without valid registration and NOC under the Factories Act.

Six lives lost

A major fire had broken out at a factory manufacturing ‘kattha’ in Piau Manyari. Three persons were killed on the spot while three succumbed to their injuries during treatment.

This was revealed in a report submitted by a joint committee constituted by Sonepat Deputy Commissioner Manoj Kumar to inquire into the incident.

A major fire had broken out at a factory manufacturing ‘kattha’ in Piau Manyari. Three persons were killed on the spot while three succumbed to their injuries during treatment.

Taking a serious note of it, the DC had constituted a seven-member committee under the supervision of SDM Amit Khatri to investigate the matter.

The team visited the spot on May 29, and during the inquiry, it was found that there was no blast in the boiler, which was intact. The header of the boiler, along with a steam pipeline, was dislocated, triggering the blast. The committee suspected the cause of the fire to be failure of the pressure release valve (PRV) due to overheating.

As per Dr Avdesh Kumar Sharma, Professor and Chairman, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology (DCRUST), Murthal, the major cause of the massive explosion was the pressure vessel situated nearby the boiler unit. Due to failure of the pressure controllers/regulators in the vessel, the pressure rose alarmingly, leading to the explosion.

According to sources, 10 employees were working in the factory at the time. Three of them were buried under the debris after parts of the unit collapsed. The injured were rushed to hospital where three more died.

Buildings adjacent to the factory are also not safe.

Several other violations were also found during the inspection. The factory, situated in a residential area, was running without a licence and registration, and the employees were not registered with the ESIC. There was no proper fire safety equipment in the factory.

A case has been registered against factory owners Suresh Bansal and Sushil Bansal, contractor Aksat Gupta and two others.

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