‘No training in handling explosives for quarrying’

BENGALURU: Fourteen people have lost their lives in a month’s time to “accidental” explosives blasts near quarry sites in Karnataka. “There is no formal training in handling explosives for quarrying or mining in Karnataka and this is one of the main reasons for such repeated mishaps resulting in tragic loss of lives,” said retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Dr UV Singh.

“There is also no monitoring of storage, movement and disposal of explosives by small quarry owners. They don’t have a magazine (designated space for storage of explosives to be used for mining) at the quarry site. The owners store explosives at some place in contravention of safety rules,” he said.

Singh said, “There are strict guidelines by the Director General of Mines Safety (DGMS) on procurement, storage, use and disposal of mine explosives and there is regular monitoring of those protocols.”It was this lack of training and knowledge in handling of explosives that led to the death of six people at a gomala (government land) at Gudibande taluk in Chikkaballapura district on February 22. 

According to placed sources, hours before the explosion, quarry owner Nagaraj had called quarry engineer Uma Mahesh and had asked him to dispose of the gelatin sticks fearing police crackdown. “Mahesh consulted quarry blaster Ganesh and Raghvendra Reddy on how to dispose of the explosives. Both of them told him to tie them in a bag and throw them in the water that had collected in the quarry. It would defuse the explosives, the two told Mahesh,” said the source.

“But he didn’t listen to them and took the five quarry workers and transported the gelatin sticks weighing around 12 to 15 kg in a vehicle. They reached some place and threw the explosives in the fire leading to their instant death,” the source added.Exactly a month ago, eight people had lost their lives when a lorry carrying explosives blew up near a stone quarry at Hunasodu village in Shivamogga district.