Accidents are routine here

There are 45 industrial areas in Hyderabad Metropolitan Area (HMA) with nearly 50,000 Medium and Small Scale Enterprises (MSME). These industrial areas are Katedan, Jeedimetla, Mallapur, Nacharam etc. Plastic, rubber, biscuit, oil, pharma and chemical industries function in these areas.

Apparently, Katedan industrial area has 1,121 factories, including Akshita Rubber Factory, and nearly 35,000 people work here. Reports with GHMC suggest that of the 1,121 factories, only 181 have all the required permissions. There are 400 potentially hazardous factories in the area and reports with the Inspector of Factories suggest that on an average 30 die every year.

A senior official with the factories department commented, “Though we inspect and seize the factory, the owners approach court and take a stay order. A total of 14 permissions are required from various government and civic bodies. In the case of Akshita Rubber Factory, it didn’t have clearance from the fire department.”

Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) reports suggest that there are 40 factories in the Katedan industrial area which have been marked as Red (polluting and hazardous). Many-a-time, the APPCB officials have tried to shift and relocate the firms to the outskirts, citing clause in GO no 111 (To prohibit polluting industries within 10 km radius, i.e. both on upstream and downstream of the lakes, to prevent acidification of lakes due to air pollution). However, they were never successful in doing so.

The incident at the Akshita Rubber Factory is not a sole incident. According to earlier reports, two months ago, an accident took place at the same factory killing one of the employees. Fifteen days prior to this incident, one person died in a mishap at a plastics factory. And few months earlier, another worker was crushed to death under the weight of sugar sacks at a biscuit factory.

Apparently, incidents like these happen, every now and them but are seldom reported and are hushed up. The only reason, which can be cited, is that most of the workers in these factories are migrants from Bihar. They leave their families back in their native place and work here. They live on frugal meal so that they can save some money and send it to their families. Here again, most of them who died on Thursday morning were the sole breadwinners.