Beirut blast: Odisha seeks details of inflammable items from factories

The Odisha government on

Wednesday asked all factories in the state to provide details of inflammable and explosive materials used, handled and stored in their premises in a bid to prevent any major mishap in the wake of the massive explosion that rocked Lebanese capital Beirut.

The factories were also issued instructions to take all safety measures to prevent any untoward incident and furnish a report on the preparedness on their part to deal with any such emergency, an official said.

In a letter to the factories, the Directorate of Factories and Boilers asked them to provide the list and quantity of inflammable and explosive materials used, handled and stocked in their premises.

The move is aimed at preventing any major tragedy like the one in a warehouse in Beirut on August 4 that claimed several lives and left a large number of people injured, the official said.

While the factories are required to furnish details of flammable and explosive materials with them and the manner in which they are stored, the field-level officials have been asked to undertake site verification to ensure that proper safety protocols are being adhered to, he said.

The state governments move comes close on the heels of the Centres direction to the ports to verify whether any hazardous substance is lying in warehouses.

More than 2,000 metric tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse in the port at Beirut has been stated as the possible source of the blast that devastated the city.

While steps have been taken to conduct safety audit in different fertiliser plants in the state as they use chemical substances, a close watch is also being maintained on the ports located at Paradip, Dhamra and Gopalpur as part of the precautionary measures being undertaken, the official said.

As part of the precautionary steps, field-level officials are carrying out safety audits in the two major fertilizer units - IFFCO and Paradeep Phosphates Ltd (PPL) -- located in Jagatsinghpur district, he said, adding that similar survey is also being conducted regularly in other major plants such as the IOCLs Paradip refinery.