Police barricades block the lanes leading up to the spot where Probace Enterprises once stood as policemen screen everyone entering the spot, while two police vehicles remain on standby on the main road. A help desk has been set up near one of the barricades for those seeking information or wanting to claim compensation for damage to property when the chemical factory blew up.
Two days after the explosion, relief and rescue activities are dying down but not the curiosity, with the site in Dombivli MIDC now a symbol of sudden death for residents. On Saturday, the death toll rose to 12 with one more body being pulled out of the debris of the chemical plant. Police said the body has been identified as that of Mayuresh Waykule, while another body pulled out on Friday was that of Vilas Pol. They added that the rescue operation ended on Friday evening and only some debris remained to be cleared
The plant, now reduced to a pile of rubble, was located only a few metres away from Abhinav Vidyalaya, which is attended by scores of students from the MIDC and nearby areas. Shivshankar Dubey, an autorickshaw driver, said, “I have been plying in this area for several years. When the explosion occurred, I thanked god that it was summer vacation time. Every glass pane was shattered. Had there been children inside, a lot of them could have been hurt.”
The clearing operation is now drawing to a close. The Manpada police have cordoned off all lanes leading to the spot and entry is restricted only to those who are part of the operation. Police personnel at the spot said the last two days were a combination of chaos, fear and despair. “People kept running this way and that, a lot of them were crying and looking for their near and dear ones,” a constable manning one of the barricades said.
Activist had foreseen dangerThe potential danger posed to MIDC residents by chemical plants in the vicinity had been brought to the notice of the authorities by a local activist a year ago. However, his letter to the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health went unacknowledged. In June last year, Raju Nalawade, 55, who lives near AIMS Hospital in Dombivli, had written to the agency informing them of violations of safety rules by chemical plants in the industrial area. In the letter, a copy of which is with The Hindu , he had highlighted how several had installed boilers on open spaces outside the company premises, which posed a hazard to residents and factory workers.
“I had requested for a survey and action against errant companies at the earliest, but received no response. What happened at Probace Enterprises was a huge tragedy, but there are many more disasters waiting to happen. Maybe a timely survey could have helped pinpoint lapses in safety standards at Probace, and the incident could have been averted,” Mr Nalawade said.
Residential colonies began coming up in the MIDC area in the early ’90s, after space became precious in Dombivli. The MIDC area had industries but also vast tracts of undeveloped land — a gold mine for builders who constructed residential societies here. An long-time resident recalls often hearing stories of damage to trees due to pollution and incidents of gas leaks when she first moved into a building ten minutes from Probace. Over time, proper roads were laid and schools came up, followed closely by commercial establishments. The MIDC is now divided into two areas, industrial and residential.
Mr Nalawade has been regularly corresponding with various authorities for the last 20 years, including the MIDC and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) on issues arising from negligence by chemical units including pollution of water bodies and gas leaks.
Memories of the day of the blast are still fresh in the area. “For two days, all we could hear was ambulance sirens. A woman who was trying to locate her son broke down at a hospital gate and started wailing loudly. Her son was later confirmed as one of the deceased,” a resident said.
