NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, NOV 5
A day after 12 labourers were killed following an explosion at a godown here, an IAS officer who is conducting the inquiry asked the Ahmedabad civic body to act against all such unauthorised warehouses storing hazardous chemicals.
Vipul Mittra, additional chief secretary of the Labour and Employment Department, is part of a two-member probe team appointed by the Gujarat government to conduct the inquiry into Wednesday’s incident.
In a letter to Municipal Commissioner Mukesh Kumar on Thursday, Mittra said the corporation should identify illegal godowns and submit an Action Taken Report by November 13.
The state government has appointed senior IAS officers Mittra and Sanjeev Kumar, chairman of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board, to conduct the inquiry.
In his letter to the civic chief, Mittra said that “action needs to be taken to identify other similar unauthorized warehouses where hazardous chemicals are being stored without valid NOCs” to prevent such incidents.
“Multi-departmental teams should be immediately pressed into action to survey all warehouses falling within municipal limits in a time-bound manner,” he said.
Stringent legal action should be taken wherever such activities are found, he said.
“A similar drive may be carried out by all other Municipal Commissioners,” Mittra added.
He was marking the copy of the letter to all the Municipal Commissioners and Police Commissioners in the state for necessary action, he said.
Twelve labourers, including five women, were killed and 10 others were injured after a portion of the godown on Pirana-Piplaj road collapsed on Wednesday morning following a powerful explosion. The godown stored chemicals, officials said.
