Review disaster management plans of industries, DCs told

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, May 11

In a bid to avoid industrial mishaps causing fatalities after the Visakhapatnam gas leak incident, Disaster Management Cell of the Revenue Department has directed DCs of industrial clusters to review disaster management preparedness of hazardous industries.

The DCs of Sirmaur, Una and Solan have been asked to prepare disaster management plans of their industrial clusters and get them approved from the district disaster management authorities.

Preparation of on-site and off-site measures for such hazard-prone industries, constitution of crisis management groups, presence of adequate fire safety equipment and protocols for management of fire incidents as well as hazardous leaks are supposed to be put in place.

“In a bid to ensure their apt preparedness, execution of mock-drills and procedures of requisitioning the national disaster management force are also supposed to be made known to the industry managements. In addition to this, community support by identifying people from the community who can be trained in dealing with such hazardous incidents should also be undertaken soon after the lockdown”, informed DC Rana, Director-cum-Special Secretary, State Disaster Management Authority.

A list of 18 such industries has been identified by the cell which includes six industries in Baddi and Nalagarh areas in Solan district, five in Kala Amb in Sirmaur district and seven in Una district. All these units are supposed to be inspected and issues like examining their vulnerability and measures taken for preparedness should be inspected in view of the lockdown.

The industries identified as hazard prone include two units of Pidilite Industries at Baddi, Vardhman Textiles, Baddi. IDCL Indane Bottling Plant, Baddi, Greenlam Industries, Baddi, Ruchira Paper, Kala Amb, Virgo Industries, Kala Amb, Woodstock Laminates, Kala Amb, Metro Decorative, Kala Amb, Grover Décor, Kala Amb, IOC’s bottling plant, Mehatpur, Cozy Touch Polymers, Una, Kanhaya Industries, Una, Integral Foam, Una,Punjab Laminates, Mehatpur, Him Chem Enterprises, Una and Raghav Industries, Una.