A fire officer has been booked for allegedly refusing to send fire engines after getting a call about a blaze in a chemicals factory, police said today.
A fire officer has been booked for allegedly refusing to send fire engines after getting a call about a blaze in a chemicals factory, police said today.
A major fire broke out after an explosion inside a boiler of a chemicals factory in Boisar-Tarapur industrial estate in Palghar district on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday, in which three people were killed and 15 others injured.
"We have booked the fire officer S S Borkar of Tarapore fire station following a complaint by District Collector Prashant Narnawre," said in-charge Inspector Prakash Birajdar of Boisar police station.
Birajdar said the officer did not send fire engines to the spot even after requests were made by the police control room.
According to Birajdar, the fire officer reportedly told police and officials of the Disaster Control Cell that he cannot send fire engines without permission of his seniors.
A preliminary report filed by the Palghar district collectorate said that a prompt response by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) fire and foam tenders to a distress call from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) could have saved three lives lost in the fire.
The report specifically mentions that BARC and TAPS denied help to the NDRF.
The Disaster Management Cell had made calls to both the central and state agencies to douse the fire and conduct search and rescue operations, the report said.
Meanwhile, Palghar Guardian Minister Vishnu Sawra has ordered an inquiry into the incident and assured that the guilty will be punished.
The blaze started after a massive explosion inside a boiler at a company named Ramedeo chemicals in the Boisar-Tarapur industrial estate around 11.40 pm on Thursday night.
The impact of the blast was felt in villages around 8 km away from the factory.
Three factories neighbouring Ramdeo Chemicals were also gutted in the blaze over 2 dozen people were injured.
Tarapur Atomic Power Station, which is also located on the Boisar-Tarapur Road, is around 20 km away from the spot, a senior police official said.
(With PTI inputs)
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