Latest spate of Indian factory blasts prompts renewed calls for government action

On 15 February, two migrant workers from Bihar were killed and four others injured after a chemical storage tank exploded at a private factory in Mandya district of Karnataka. The factory, known as Keerthi Chemical, had not been operational for the past four years, and, at the time of the explosion, the tank was being dismantled in preparation for moving the factory and its equipment and other contents to a new location.

Following the fatal blast, police registered a case against the management of the factory under Section 106 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, India’s criminal code, for allegedly causing death by negligence. They also launched an investigation into the circumstances and causes of the incident.

According to media reports, around four years ago, local residents near the factory had protested after a suspected chemical leak from the site allegedly damaged crops across hundreds of acres and led to the death of two dogs. The district administration later provided compensation to a number of affected farmers.

“In view of the protests and public objections, the factory was being relocated,” a local resident told reporters. “However, the factory authorities [owners] did not take adequate precautionary measures during the removal of hazardous materials.”

The next day, on 16 February, a separate explosion at an illegal firecracker factory in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan, killed nine people, prompting renewed condemnation from safety campaigners about repeated failures to adhere to basic safety measures by the owners of significant numbers of factories in India’s hazardous manufacturing sectors. Investigators found the factory was officially registered as a garment manufacturing unit but was actually illegally producing firecrackers, a process that poses a high risk of fire and explosion if not correctly carried out in line with appropriate safety precautions.

Local police said it is likely the blast was caused by the illegal storage and handling of explosive materials, though the exact cause remains under investigation.

It was also revealed that the unit’s operators were allegedly importing chemicals and raw materials required for firework production from China without the proper licences. According to police, the operation enabled year-round manufacturing and nationwide distribution with the help of Delhi-based traders.

Devastating explosion

Just days later, on 28 February, a devastating explosion tore through a licensed firecracker factory in Kakinada district of Andhra Pradesh, killing 22 people. The State’s Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that if they were found culpable of violating safety rules, the assets of the factory owners would be seized and distributed among the victims’ families. Preliminary investigative findings suggest that whenever the unit received bulk orders, it hired additional workers but failed to implement adequate safety precautions. A villager described the explosion as feeling like “an earthquake striking the sleepy village”, as rescuers recovered burnt bodies and severed limbs from nearby paddy fields.

On 1 March, in yet another incident, 19 workers were killed in a blast at an industrial and mining explosives manufacturing plant run by SBL Energy in Nagpur city in Maharashtra. The impact of the blast was so severe that DNA samples had to be collected to identify victims, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced compensation for affected families. A local government minister alleged the incident was a case of clear “negligence” on the part of the explosives manufacturer.

Local police arrested 11 senior personnel from the company, for alleged negligence and a failure to follow mandatory safety measures. The arrested directors and managers included SBL Energy’s vice-president Chandrashekhar Rajwad, managing directors Rakesh Tiwari and Ravi Kamra, senior general manager Sandeep Solanki, general manager Pradeep Sharma, production managers Roshan Raut and Nilkalam Dongre, production supervisor Pankaj Pandey, loading supervisor Sudhakar Uparkar, and building in-charges Rajendra Pardhi and Vilas Malve, according to The Times of India.

According to preliminary investigations by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) and the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH), the massive explosion was caused by safety violations. The alleged major lapses that surfaced during the investigations included a failure to appoint a qualified safety officer as mandated under the Explosives Rules 2008, a lack of CCTV surveillance at designated locations, installation of boilers outside approved layouts, and storage of explosives far beyond permissible limits. The report also stated that the labourers at the factory were not adequately trained for the high-risk job of manufacturing industrial explosives for use in activities like coal mining.

Systemic crisis

These incidents, some in illegal units, others in licensed factories, point to a systemic crisis rather than isolated tragedies, say safety campaigners, trade unions and certain politicians.

Last year, after a fire at a pharmaceuticals factory run by Sigachi Industries in Telegana, which claimed the lives more than 40 workers and left at least 30 others seriously injured, Ashutosh Bhattacharya, South Asia regional secretary for the IndustriALL global union, said: “Ensuring occupational health and safety is not a choice but a constitutional and international obligation for the Government of India. Ratifying ILO Conventions C-155 and C-187 will reaffirm India’s commitment to safe, fair, and dignified workplaces for all.”

Meanwhile, the Indian National Trade Union Congress also called on the Union and State Governments to urgently revamp the existing mechanisms and procedures for carrying out factory safety inspections across India. The union also called for an independent, high-level inquiry into the functioning of each State factories department, which are responsible for enforcing the Factories Act 1948, which includes legal requirements covering the working hours, and health, safety and welfare, of factory workers.

New safety rules for firecracker manufacturers

Meanwhile, the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry recently issued new safety rules for India’s firecracker manufacturers, according to a report by Mint news outlet. The framework includes new legal requirements to ensure there is adequate distance and space between chemical mixing sheds, restricting worker numbers in chemical mixing sheds, providing workers with flame-retardant personal protective equipment and installing rubber mats on floors to reduce the risk of friction causing an ignition leads to an explosion.

There will also be mandatory safety audits and inspections by the regulatory authorities, and the various new rules will be incorporated into the factory licensing process, meaning a breach of the rules will potentially result in loss of the factory’s licence and fines.

The rules are also designed to improve the safety of the fireworks that are produced for sale, following a rising tide of firework injuries among the public, particularly during festivals like Diwali, and reduce teh environmental impact of firework production and use. In particular, the Ministry wishes to see a transition to ‘green crackers’ that reduce particulate emissions by 30–35 per cent.

Although the ministry’s move has been welcomed by many, critics argue that policy announcements often struggle against entrenched practices on the ground.

In fireworks hubs such as Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu, workers mixing volatile chemical mixtures are legally required to operate in a separate shed and to be positioned near exits to increase the chances of escaping in the event of an explosion. In reality, however, cramped sheds, long working hours, inadequate training and lack of protective equipment are the norm, say safety campaigners. In addition, unauthorised structures are often constructed within licensed firework manufacturing sites in order to produce more fireworks than legally allowed. However, campaigners say that workers never or rarely complain because they lack alternative sources of income.