Safety audits start on Vizag pharma firms

Visakhapatnam: The State government has launched a third party safety audit of bulk drug manufacturers. This follows a series of accidents that have taken place in north coastal Andhra region and there is pressure from environmentalists. The region has 130 bulk drug manufacturing units.

Deputy inspector of factories GVV Satyanarayana said his department completed the third party safety audit in December last by inspecting 44 manufacturers in Paravada and other areas of Visakhapatnam. This was a routine check.

But the government insisted that all the 130 units be covered. The audit of the remaining 86 units began two days ago and this would take three months. The third party team comprises experts from chemical engineering, electrical, mechanical and operations.

The team would list required additional safety steps and suggest such action for each unit. The audit would be valid for a period of one year for select units and more for others. The last departmental safety audit was in 2020, and it involved the pollution control board, fire, boiler and electricity department officials.

Asked about the pharma city having its own firefighting equipment including tenders, the deputy inspector said only Ramki and Laurus have these. “The SNF industries put out a fire in just 15 minutes with the equipment they had there two days ago. There was no loss of life or injuries to any. All units should have internal mechanism to fight the fire,” he said.

GVMC corporator from industrial belt, Ganga Rao, said these third party safety audits were an eyewash. “They are not accountable and often take the management side. It’s that the government is washing its hands of the responsibilities,’’ he said.

Vizag region has 2,940 industries including the pharmaceutical units. Around 33 persons died and 60 were injured in 50 industrial accidents in the past two years in this region.