Date:10/12/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/12/10/stories/2006121006580300.htm

Karnataka - Bellary

Hazardous units: plan to tackle crisis situations

Staff Correspondent

55 of the 322 factories in Bellary involve hazardous processes

The plan aims at coordinating efforts during an emergency

`It has been prepared carefully taking all aspects into consideration'

BELLARY: An off-site emergency plan for Bellary district to manage eventualities arising out of hazardous industries in the district has been prepared by the district administration. The plan was released at a function held at JSW Steel Ltd. at Toranagal in Bellary district. Arvind Srivastav, Deputy Commissioner, who is also Chief Disaster Controller (CDC), told The Hindu here on Saturday that the objective and scope of the plan was to provide resources and methods for effective control of emergencies arising out of leakage, explosion and fire owing to the use of hazardous materials.

To prevent an emergency turning into a disaster; to synchronise action from all the coordinating agencies with no delay; to minimise damage to lives, environment and property; to have an effective rescue operation and treatment of casualties; to train people to act efficiently in an emergency; to restore normalcy as quickly as possible; to provide authoritative information to the media and government agencies; and to avoid panic among the public and prevent exploitation of the situation by any agency. Mr. Srivastav said there was a need for preparedness and planning in an emergency to keep damages to a minimum.

Legislation alone could not fulfil the objectives but the cooperation and involvement of industries, the district administration and the public was needed, he added. It was important that a contingency plan, coordinating resources was prepared and kept ready to handle any eventuality.

There are 322 registered factories located in the district under the purview of the Factories Act, 1948, of which 55 involve hazardous processes.

Three units, the Jindal South West (JSW) Steels Ltd., the Jindal Praxair Oxygen Company Ltd., and the Bellary Oxygen Company Ltd., are classified as "major accident hazard industries". Other industries declared as "potentially hazardous industries" are JSW Energy Ltd., Monsanto India Ltd., Unitee Galva Private Ltd. and Pampasara Distillery Ltd., and the Bellary Thermal Power Station. Mr. Srivastav said the plan had been prepared meticulously, taking all aspects into consideration, with the cooperation of officials of all departments concerned. "The idea is to ensure that the response from all the concerned is systematic to manage a crisis without being panicky," he said.

The plan also included a resource directory giving information about the availability of ambulances, blood banks, the names of the district crisis group and officers along with their phone numbers, important persons in the units to be contacted, fire stations, earthmoving equipments, mutual aid partners, list of doctors, physicians and specialists, hospitals, and availability of rescue shelters (mostly school buildings located in and around Toranagal). In addition, the resource directory also gave a brief description of the hazardous materials stored and processed in the respective industries.

Mock drills would be held periodically in all these industries to ensure that the personnel, connected with disaster management, were always alert, he added.