NTPC blast: 32 casualties, committee to submit report in 30 days

National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) chairman Gurdeep Singh on Friday said the committee formed to probe the Unchahar power plant explosion in Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli will submit its report in the next 30 days.

The chairman's statement came two days after the tragic incident in which the unit boiler exploded at the NTPC site, killing 32 people and injuring more than hundred others.

While addressing the media here, Singh said, "The committee formed to investigate the incident will submit its report in 30 days. The recommendations of the report will be implemented as a safety measure to the present as well as future units, and will be shared with other plants as well."

On the condition of the injured undergoing treatment in Uttar Pradesh hospital, he said seven critically injured had been shifted from Lucknow to Delhi last night.

"We shifted seven people to Delhi yesterday night, with the help of the Indian Government that provided an IAF plane, which helped in the shifting of the injured," said Singh.

He added that about 48 people had been admitted in different hospitals in Uttar Pradesh and 12 had already been shifted to the national capital.

"We will ensure that they are provided with the best possible treatment," he said.

Terming the allegations that no proper inspection was done in the plant as ''preconceived notions'', Singh said that it would be wrong to blame anyone and anything until the probe reports are presented.

"The commission on the plant was supposed to be on December 2016 but was done on March 2017," Singh asserted.

He further said that they had conducted a thorough investigation of the plant.

"Our engineers, having experience of 28 to 30 years in the field, were also present during the accident," the chairman said.

He further stated that an additional general manager along with two engineers from different sectors were during the explosion.

"The Additional General Manager yesterday succumbed to his injuries in Lucknow, while two others had been shifted to Delhi," he added.

Stating that there were three competent engineers present on the spot during the incident, the chairman asserted, "Saying that everything was done in haste, would be a wrong thing to say."

He said that the sequence of events and data log will be analysed, after which the reason behind the blast could be ascertained.

Rae Bareli is the parliamentary constituency of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh each for the next of kin of those killed in the explosion.

The incident took place on Wednesday when the ash-pipe exploded due to pressure at the NTPC plant in Unchahar area.

NTPC operates a 1550 Mega Watt power plant of Uttar Pradesh, which is named after Feroze Gandhi, the husband of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.