Shimla, Feb 5 (PTI) A joint task force of various departments would carry out a safety audit of all industrial units in the Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh industrial belt in Himachal Pradesh’s Solan district, Industry Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan said on Monday.
The decision was taken after five people were killed and 30 others injured in a devastating fire that broke out at a perfume manufacturing unit in Baddi area on Friday.
The task force will submit its report in one month, the minister said.
Chauhan, who visited the site and also presided over a meeting of various departments and representatives of industries at Baddi, revealed that the chemicals used by the perfume manufacturing company were neither registered with the pollution department nor the excise department, which is a big irregularity.
There were violations in fire and labour safety norms in N R Aromas Company and the fire occurred due to criminal negligence of the company, he said, adding that Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu has given clear instructions to take appropriate action against the culprits involved in the tragic incident.
Chauhan said the task force will inspect various industries and ensure that safety measures like fire equipment and emergency exit are in place and the storage of diesel, petrol, alcohol and chemicals is as per the capacity.
“We have interacted with the members of Chamber of Commerce. A self- declaration form with 10-12 parameters like safety measures, kind of chemicals used and other relevant details would also be introduced,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, the fire that broke out at the factory in Baddi on Friday afternoon is yet to be extinguished completely.
State forensic services Director Meenakshi Mahajan said that water sprinkling will not control the chemical fire till the oxygen supply is cut.
So far, five persons have been killed in the fire while five others namely Champo, Kajal, Kajal Bharti, Kalpana and Vijay Dubey are missing and the toll is expected to go up as search is on.
The special investigation team (SIT) constituted to probe the incident along with teams of NDRF, SDRF and FSL experts conducted a search operation within the premises of the company and collected various samples, including human body samples for DNA analysis on Sunday but they could not search the whole building as it was unsafe, officials said.
Drones were also used for the search operation, police said, adding that thick smoke of hazardous gases such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulphide oozed from the cosmetic material hindered the fire-fighting operation.
Four of the five deceased were identified as Pinki, Rahnuma, Shashi and Rakhi while one body is yet to be identified, they said and urged the grieving family members to come forward to provide DNA samples to assist in identifying the victims.
Efforts are being made to apprehend company’s owner Nilesh Patel, and two others — Siddharth Patel and Milan Patel — after the Court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Nalagarh issued a non-bailable warrants against the three accused, all residents of Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh, police said.
Earlier, Chander Shekhar, the factory head of N R Aromas company and another person Vinod Bilwa, were arrested after an FIR was registered under sections 285 (negligence), 336 (endangering life), 337 (causing hurt) and 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code, police said.
Family members and friends of the missing people are camping outside the factory. They raised slogans against the police and factory management while barricades were put up to prevent them from entering the factory. Later, the family members were taken inside the premises, police said.
Solan Deputy Commissioner Manmohan Sharma said a team of Central Forensic Science laboratory (CFSL), Chandigarh will join the investigation on Tuesday. Earlier, the DC had ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident. PTI BPL KVK KVK
