Telangana factory blast: 5-member expert panel formed to investigate causes, report due within a month

HYDERABAD: The state govt on Wednesday constituted a four-member expert committee, including senior chemical scientists and safety officers from the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT) and the National Chemical Laboratory in Pune, to investigate the cause of the major explosion at Sigachi Industries in Pashamylaram, Sangareddy, which occurred on Monday.The committee has been tasked with submitting a report within a month on the causes of the explosion and the events that led to it, as well as making recommendations on steps to be taken to prevent such accidents. The committee must also establish whether SOPs for worker safety were followed in the industrial unit.The committee comprises B Venkateswar Rao, emeritus scientist at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-IICT, as chairman; T Prathap Kumar, chief scientist at CSIR-IICT; Surya Narayana, retired scientist at CSIR-CLRI in Hyderabad; and Santosh Ghuge, safety officer at CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory in Pune.Labour department principal secretary M Dana Kishore, who is a member of the five-person officers committee headed by the chief secretary, issued the GO constituting the expert committee.The director of factories, Telangana will assist the committee, providing information and meeting any requirements during the investigation.Meanwhile, the five-member committee headed by the chief secretary held its preliminary meeting at the Secretariat on Wednesday, deciding to hold its first formal meeting on Friday.