The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Blast at illegal gas filling unit, 16 houses destroyed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 21, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Blast at illegal gas filling unit, 16 houses destroyed

By R. Krishnamoorthy

TIRUCHI, AUG. 20. Sixteen houses with thatched roofing were burnt in a fire reportedly caused by the bursting of an LPG cylinder at an unauthorised `filling unit' in a housing cluster at Manamedu at Tiruvanaikovil here this afternoon. However, there was no casualty.

The cylinder was said to have burst during the gas filling process and the fire spreading rapidly, fanned by the winds, and engulfed the adjoining hutments. The locals battled the flames for about half-an-hour with water. By the time a fire tender unit arrived from Srirangam, extensive damage was caused to the houses. However, the Fire and Rescue Service personnel prevented the blaze, which raged for nearly 10 metres, from spreading further, and removed the scattered cylinders. A few cylinders were found with charred exterior and melted mouths.

According to the fire personnel, there were 88 LPG cylinders at the unit at the time of the blast. But for the direction of the wind, a major catastrophe would have occurred, as nearly 50 per cent of the cylinders were full. The cylinders were stacked 20 feet behind the spot of explosion while the wind was blowing in the forward direction where the hutments were located.

Proprietor escapes

The unauthorised unit, according to the locals, has been in existence for over a year, despite opposition by the residents. The police, who pleaded no knowledge of the unit's existence, identified the proprietor as Vijayakumar of a nearby locality. He allegedly escaped from the scene.

The Collector, V. Pandian, the Mayor, Sarubala R. Thondaiman, the Corporation Commissioner, Harmandar Singh, and the Commissioner of Police, T.P. Sundaramoorthy, visited the spot and conducted enquiries.

The Deputy Commissioner, N. Arivuselvam, said two employees, Prabakaran (15), and Thalamuthu (18), and three others, Murugan (25) and Ramesh (27), brothers, and Dhanalakshmi (25), who had provided space for the unit, have been arrested. A team is on the lookout for Vijayakumar and Ganesan, who facilitated the former to establish the unit.

The houses, officials confirmed, were unauthorised and that they could not be demolished in the recent drive by the Corporation due to the involvement of a few politicians. Also, most of the residents of Manamedu were Corporation sanitation workers.

Nexus to fore

The incident has brought to light the nexus of the unauthorised unit, a section of delivery boys of LPG cylinders and hotels.

Capitalising on the subsidised cost of LPG meant for domestic purposes, the proprietor, reportedly purchased the cylinders weighing 14.2 kg each at a cost that provided a ``satisfactory'' margin to the delivery boys, emptied the gas from these cylinders using a risky process into 19 kg cylinders meant for commercial purposes, and supplied it at a ``competitive'' price to some hotels at Srirangam and Tiruvanaikovil. The unit had a weighing machine and employed a few locals.

Relief given

The Collector, in a statement, said each of the 16 affected families was provided with Rs. 2,000, five kg of rice, one litre of kerosene, a saree and a dhoti.

The Srirangam MLA, K.K. Balasubramanian, gave Rs. 1,100 and 10 kg rice to each of the affected families.

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