Disaster control dept points to safety gaps, Solan DC directed to probe perfume factory fire incident

Tribune News Service

Solan, February 7

Regulatory gaps have been exposed in the implementation of industrial safety norms in the horrific fire incident at a perfume factory at Jharmajri in Barotiwala of Solan district. Five workers were killed in the incident an equal number are missing.

These are the key findings of the state Disaster Management Department, which has asked the Deputy Commissioner of Solan to conduct a detailed investigation of the incident by seeking expert assistance and submit a report within 15 days.

Audit ordered

• The Deputy Commissioner, Sirmaur, has directed the officials of police, Home Guards, labour and fire departments as well as the industrial associations of Nahan and Paonta Sahib to conduct fire safety audits of all units by February 27
• They have also been directed to ensure that all units have the requisite equipment and conduct mock drills by February 25

To avert another fire incident in the future, a letter has been shot off to the DGP, Labour Commissioner, Director, Industries, Deputy Commissioners and SPs of industrial districts of Solan, Sirmaur and Una to have a re-look into the safety aspect.

As per the Factories Act, 1948, the on-site and off-site emergency plans covering all hazardous process are to be put in place for major accident- prone installations, says the authority.

The District Collector and the Chief Inspector of Factories share the joint responsibility of preparing an off-site emergency plan in districts, as per the norms.

While the Chemical Accidents (Emergency Planning, Preparedness and Response) Rules, 1996, govern the establishments of the state, the district and local crisis groups are required to convene a meeting every 45 days. They are supposed to submit a report to the state crisis group.

The State Disaster Management Authority had prepared off-site industrial disaster plans for the districts of Solan, Sirmaur and Una in 2012 with the technical support of Bhopal-based Disaster Management Institute and the UNDP. They were approved by the SDMA in November 2023 and were circulated to all concerned on November 21, 2023. For adoption, plans were shared with the State Disaster Response Force in November for the conduct of mock drills in the identified industrial pockets.

All these measures appear to have remained only on paper as one did not see any emergency plan having been put to action to deal with the industrial disaster of Barotiwala.

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