Wednesday’s fire mishap in an ink manufacturing unit at Jeedimetla has once again brought to the fore the risk to people's life due to negligence by corrupt officials. The factory of the Bharat Flexo Graphic Printing Inks, which caught fire, was operating illegally since January but neither the department of factories nor the AP Pollution Control Board officials bothered to close it down.
The factory owners obtained permission to manufacture printing inks through mixing and blending process but went on to install “solvent distillation column” illegally and using hazardous solvents like toluene, N butanol, mythyl alcohol and other mixed solvents. Yet, the PCB turned a blind eye till the mishap occurred. Sources told this newspaper that the PCB issued closure orders to Bharat Flexo in June, 2008, on charges of illegal dumping of hazardous waste but for reasons best known to it, the board revoked the orders in September 2010. “Permission to operate is periodically extended and the last permission is valid only till January 7 this year,” sources pointed out.
The inspections carried out by the PCB at the accident site revealed that the company obtained permission to manufacture 20 tonnes of inks a month but production of mixed solvents amounted to 80 tonnes. “There was no permission from inspector of factories,” sources said. The officials found that there were two to three 10,000-litre tanks besides 300 drums of 200-litres each containing solvents. New PCB member-secretary M. Ravichandra said an inquiry would be constituted on why the illegal operation went unnoticed.