VISAKHAPATNAM: The fire accident at Porus Laboratories Pvt Ltd, a pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturing firm in Akkireddy Gudem village in Musunuru mandal of Eluru district which claimed six lives, has raised concerns over safety in industries in Andhra Pradesh.
On average, over 250 people die due to fire accidents a year in state. The NCRB’s report on accidental deaths and suicides says in 2020, there were 227 deaths due to 230 fire accidents in AP. The cause for more than half of them (60 per cent/140 fire accidents) was recorded under ‘Other.’ Higher proportion of accidents due to ‘Other Cause’ was also observed in 2019 and previous years.
For the fire accidents in 2020 where the cause was specified in the NCRB report, the highest number of cases (65 fire accidents and 60 deaths) was due to cooking gas cylinder/stove burst. In 2020, 22 fire accidents due to the electrical short circuit were reported in which 21 people were killed. Both these specific causes account for a higher number of accidents and deaths compared to other specific causes like fireworks, riots/agitation, firearm and mines or quarry disasters.
In 2019, there were 321 deaths due to 317 fire accidents. The cause for more than half of them (60 per cent/191fire accidents) in 2019 was recorded under ‘Other.’ Under the ‘specific cause’ in the report, as many as 30 fire accidents due to electrical short circuits were reported in which 29 people were killed. In the cooking gas cylinder/stove burst category of cause, 93 people were killed in 94 accidents in that year.
A senior officer with state disaster response and fire services said electrical short circuit was found to be the prime cause behind the fire accidents in commercial establishments and in some industries. He said accidents caused by short circuits can take place any time during day or night when appliances such as ACs, refrigerators, and others are overworked or overloaded.
