Thiruvananthapuram: PCB notice to plastic unit

Thiruvananthapuram: Various departments including the Fire and Rescue Services Department, Police Department and Pollution Control Board (PCB) have launched a scientific probe into the fire outbreak at the plastic manufacturing unit at Manvila here on Friday. However, none of the agencies were able to reach a conclusion on the reason for the fire. The Electrical Inspectorate Department will carry out an inspection on Saturday to investigate whether the fire was caused by a short circuit.

A team of ballistic experts from the Forensic Science Lab of Kerala police collected evidence from the burned down plastic manufacturing unit. An official said that experts collected evidence to check the presence of chemical residues at the factory unit. “The investigation will continue tomorrow. The entire floor of the factory is covered with melted plastic. We have to remove the layer to collect more evidence,” said an official of Kerala Police.

The special investigation team formed by the Fire and Rescue Services Department to probe into the fire outbreak at the plastic manufacturing unit at Manvila, which happened on Wednesday night, is grappling in the dark to find out the actual reason that caused the fire. Director (Technical) R Prasad of the department, who is leading the investigation, said that a more thorough examination will be carried out at the burned down factory in the coming days.

“We found out the point of origin of the fire. The fire was incepted in the first floor of the shed behind the main building of the plastic manufacturing unit. Following the fire, the asbestos sheets exploded and due to the airflow the fire spread wildly to the nearby building, which had stocks of plastic products,” said Mr Prasad.

He said that the department has roped in chemical experts from other departments to trace out the reason for the fire. “Large quantity of plastic bottles and other combustible materials facilitated the fire to spread in an uncontrollable way,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Pollution Control Board (PCB) has served a seven-day show cause notice to the owner of the manufacturing unit for operating the factory violating safety norms. However, the PCB authorities said that there is no presence of harmful fumes in the atmosphere. “We analysed the toxicity levels and air quality at the factory. There is nothing to worry about as we could find only the presence of hydrocarbons which is not unusual,” said the official.