Visakhapatnam refinery blamed for gas tragedy

Was the Andhra Pradesh refinery blaze -- which claimed 55 lives -- caused by the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited's criminal negligence?

As the suspicion gains strength, several Visakhapatnam trade unions have threatened to move the Andhra Pradesh high court against the corporation's callous disregard for safety measures.

Blasting the HPCL management for the tragedy, several politicians -- including Bharatiya Janata Party vice-president Madan Lal Khurana, Congress state unit president M Mallikarjun and Communist Party of India's Dasari Nagabhushan Rao who visited the site -- said the refinery failed to take preventive measures.

"I suspect there is more to it than meets the eye. I am convinced that the management's criminal negligence caused the fire," alleges Khurana.

He said the management tried to underplay the whole incident. It failed to act in time and was also unable to prevent panic reaction among the people.

''The refinery did not have any foam to fight the blaze. After the fire broke out, 10,000 tonnes of foam had to be flown in from Gujarat. An additional 1,000 tonnes of foam had to be taken from the Eastern Naval Command,'' the BJP leader said.

Demanding a judicial inquiry into the tragedy, several leaders said Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral's "impartial inquiry", led by Cochin Refinery Chairman P L Kumar, would serve no purpose. Mallikarjun said the inquiry would only bail out the ''guilty'' officials.

Visiting the site, this Rediff On The NeT correspondent veered towards the trade unions's viewpoint that the refinery was a clutter of higly inflammable material.

In a radius of just one km, the refinery has eight units besides 80 storage tanks containing kerosene, jutebatch oil, heartwell oil, liquified petroleum gas, naphtha, crude oil and petrol.

What is worse, the management allegedly ignored the unions's plea that the LPG pipeline should not be laid close to the administrative building.

Another allegation against the HPCL, which has a staff strength of 1,800 employees, is that the management has been engaging private contractors for maintenance work.

Petroleum Workers's Union president Prasad Rao said, "Most of these workers are unskilled, and don't follow the safety measures. The management continues to deploy such workmen as it receives huge kickbacks from the contractors."

Accusing the management of using substandard equipment, Rao said it was trying to play down the death toll. He said more than 200 people were present in the complex on the fateful day and that the officials were trying to suppress information regarding their whereabouts. "A majority of those killed were contract labourers," he added.

As allegations fly, rescue and relief operations continue even as the blaze has been ''put off but for a small fire''.

Briefing the media, HPCL Director (Production) G S Mathur said the debris is being cleared on a warfooting. ''Nearly 63 tippers and cranes have been pressed into service,'' he said.

However, he could not specify a time-frame for clearing the rubble as the concrete structures were hanging precariously and had to be removed with extreme caution.

Meanwhile, the five-member inquiry committee has begun its investigation.

UNI and M S Shanker in Visakhapatnam

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