Neyveli
NLC India Ltd, ‘Thermal Power Station II boiler exploded accident’ @ 01.07.2020
- News
‘Six
workers killed, 17 injured in boiler blast at thermal power plant in Tamil
Nadu’s Neyveli.’
Information
recorded date: 01.07.2020 @ Neyveli.
Six
workers were killed and 17 injured - 11 of them critically - after a boiler
exploded in Unit V of the thermal power station-II of the NLC India Ltd (NLCIL)
in Neyveli on Wednesday. This was the second accident at the power station in
less than two months.
On
May 7, a boiler explosion occurred in Unit VI, killing five persons, including
two permanent staff members.
The
power station has seven units of 210 MW each, totalling 1,470 MW.
Smoke
billowed out
Around
9.45 a.m., contract workers and permanent staff members were active at the unit
when the accident occurred. Thick smoke billowed out of the plant.
The
deceased were identified as Silambarasan, 25, Arun Kumar, 25, Padmanabhan, 30,
Ramanathan, 42, Venkatesa Perumal, 37, and Nagaraj, 30. The NLCIL said all of
them were contract workers. Of the 17 injured, 16 were referred to Chennai with
more than 40% burns.
According
to the NLCIL sources, “Unit V shut down after it tripped on Tuesday night. The
workers and engineering staff were attempting to revive it when a fire broke
out in the boiler, resulting in the explosion.”
Power
generation in the unit was stalled after the accident. All other units in the
station and other thermal power plants worked as usual.
“Unit
V of TPS-II, Neyveli, was under shutdown, and maintenance activities were under
way when a fire broke out in the boiler, followed by an explosion. The
explosion caused injuries to the NLCIL maintenance team comprising one
executive, two supervisors, three non-executive employees and 17 contract
workmen,” the NLCIL said in a statement.
“Out
of the 23 injured, six workmen engaged by a contractor succumbed to injuries on
the spot. The other 17 injured were immediately rushed to the NLCIL hospital.
Of them, 16 were referred to Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, for further higher
specialty treatment, while one with minor injuries is being treated at the
NLCIL hospital,” NLCIL said.
Tension
prevailed after relatives of the six contract workmen staged a demonstration in
front of Thermal Power Station-II, blaming the management for negligence. The
protesters also demanded stringent action against officials of Unit V, besides
compensation to the families and a job to a family member.
After
NLCIL officials and the police assured them that their demands would be
considered, they withdrew their protest. The bodies were shifted to the
Villupuram Government Medical College and Hospital (VGMCH) at Mundiyambakkam
for post-mortem.
Industries
Minister M.C. Sampath, accompanied by Collector Chandra Sekhar Sakhamuri,
Superintendent of Police M. Sree Abhinav and NLCIL Chairman-cum-Managing
Director Rakesh Kumar inspected the spot.
Unit
head suspended
NLCIL
has suspended A. Kothandam, Chief General Manager and Unit Head of Thermal
Power Station-II, for alleged failure to ensure safety at Unit V. According to
an NLCIL official, “The unit head of TPS-II has been suspended pending enquiry
by the management. All the four units of 210 MW each of TPS-II Stage-II have
been ordered shut down for immediate safety audit.”
NLCIL
has ordered a high-level inquiry, headed by P.K. Mohapatra, retired Director
(Technical) of the National Thermal Power Corporation Limited, into the cause
of the accident. It has also constituted an internal inquiry committee, headed
by the Director (Power) of NLCIL.
Union
blames NLC
M.
Shanmugham, a Rajya Sabha member and general secretary of the DMK-backed Labour
Progressive Front (LPF), said negligence on the part of the management was
chiefly responsible for the frequent accidents.
He
said higher officials in the unit hailed from Hindi-speaking States and their
instructions were not properly understood by the workers. He said deploying
contract labourers was also a reason. Trained, skilled and permanent workers
should be deployed in such units, he said.
List
of industrial accidents in NLCIL projects
Date
|
Project name
|
Location
|
Accident
description
|
Accident death
toll
|
26.09.2012
|
Mine
I
|
Lignite
excavator area
|
An
engineer died in lignite accumulation
|
1
|
20.05.2014
|
Thermal
power station I
|
Turbine,
Unit 7
|
Steam
pipeline explosion
|
3
|
13.06.2017
|
Mine
IA
|
Lignite
stock yard
|
Yard
stacked lignite caught fire
|
-
|
12.12.2017
|
Thermal
power station II - Expn
|
Ash
stock yard
|
A
female worker died by hot ash
|
1
|
30.01.2019
|
Mine
IA
|
Lignite
mine
|
An
official died by drowning in mine water
|
1
|
09.06.2019
|
Thermal
power station II
|
Boiler
|
A
technician died in fire accident
|
1
|
09.10.2019
|
Mine
I
|
Lignite
conveyor
|
Lignite
conveyor belt caught fire
|
-
|
26.11.2019
|
Neyveli
New Thermal Power Plant - NNTPP
|
Boiler
|
A contract worker fell down accidently from high level and died.
|
1
|
04.05.2020
|
Mine
I
|
Lignite
conveyor
|
Lignite
conveyor belt caught fire
|
-
|
07.05.2020
|
Thermal
power station II
|
Boiler,
Unit 6
|
Boiler
explosion
|
5
|
14.05.2020
|
Thermal
power station I
|
Boiler,
Unit 4 ESP
|
ESP
parts broken and fall down
|
-
|
01.07.2020
|
Thermal
power station II
|
Boiler,
Unit 5
|
Boiler
explosion
|
14
|
* Statistical information as per news records.
Referential notes:-
3."நெய்வேலி அனல்
மின்
நிலைய
விபத்தில்
அதிகாரி
உயிரிழப்பு;
6 பேர்
படுகாயம்", Hindu Tamil Thisaii, 20.05.2014.
5."நெய்வேலி
என்எல்சி அனல் மின்நிலையத்தில் சாம்பல் கொட்டியதில் பெண் தொழிலாளர் பலி", YouTube - News7 Tamil, 13.12.2017.
11."வெடித்துச்
சிதறிய
பாய்லர்;
தீயில்
சிக்கிய
8 தொழிலாளர்கள்!’" - பதறவைத்த
நெய்வேலி
தீ
விபத்து", Vikatan, 07.05.2020.
