Tamil Nadu: Blast at NLC power plant kills six workers, injures 17

CUDDALORE/CHENNAI: Six workers died and 17 others were injured in a blast at thermal power station (TPS) II of the Neyveli Lignite Corporation around 9.45am in Neyveli on Wednesday. According to NCIL sources, the cause of the explosion was being ascertained.
The accident comes just a month after five workers died in an explosion at the plant on May 7.
The injured workers were given first aid at NLCIL hospital and 16 of them were later referred to a private hospital in Chennai for treatment.
Eleven of the 16 injured were said to be in critical condition. One worker, who sustained minor injuries, was undergoing treatment at the NLCIL GH.
The explosion triggered a blaze when a maintenance team attempted to light up unit 5 that was shut down on May 7 following an explosion in unit 6 in which five workers died and three others were injured.
Multiple levels of unit 5 boiler had caught fire
One executive, two supervisors, three nonexecutive employees and 17 contract workers were part of the 23-member maintenance team.
CISF fire services personnel, who rushed to the spot, found multiple levels of unit 5 boiler in fire. They fought close to an hour to extinguish the blaze and recovered the bodies of six workers and rescued17 injuredworkers.
NLCIL chief general manager S Gurusamynathan said the company has ordered a high-level inquiry headed by retired director (technical) of national thermal power corporation (NTPC) P K Mohapatra to probe the cause of the accident. The company has also constituted an internal inquiry committee. TheTPS IIunit head has been suspended pending inquiry. The company shut all the four 210MW-capacity units and ordered an immediate safety audit.
Labour union leaders and a section of political leaders have held the company responsible for frequent accidents that left scores of workers dead and injured. “We have been insisting that the management include union leaders in expert committees to review safety aspects in the plant. But the management does notheedour plea,” said a trade union leader.
CM Edappadi K Palaniswami announced Rs 3 lakh solatium to each to the families of thesix victims,Rs 1 lakh each for those who suffered major injuries and Rs 50,000 each for those with minor injuries.