Deathsdue to blasts in industries that produce, and store, hazardous chemicals have been happening from earlier on.

The devastating Bhopal gas tragedy and the Chernobyl leak are alarming reminders of how deadly and dangerous the effects of chemical and gas related disasters can be, especially in the absence of adequate safety protocols or negligence by those entrusted with the safety task.

The recent blast in a pharmaceutical factory at Patancheru has been termed as one of the worst.

A sad irony is that authorities, including the government of the day, get alerted from a state of limbo only after deaths occur.

The appointment of a committee to zero in on the causes and fix accountability and compensations paid to the deceased and injured are all done as a matter of routine. The larger lessons which tragedies like these teach are never learnt.

Periodic checking and implementation of safety protocols are never given the priority they deserve. It is heart-wrenching that lives of workers and employees, who had come to Hyderabad from different parts of the country to eke out a living have been lost this way.

The agony, pain and suffering of the immediate kith and kin of those killed is beyond words. Will the authorities wake up at least now and make efforts to arrest such disasters is anybody's guess.

N R Raghuram

Hyderabad