Andhra pharma unit blast: Extra leave could have saved young engineer's life

The powerful vapour cloud explosion happened at Escientia Advanced Sciences in Andhra Pradesh/ PTI

C Harika, a young chemical engineer, could have survived the Andhra pharma unit blast if her workplace's management had allowed her the extra day of leave she asked. The 22-year-old engineer from Kakinada had returned home to celebrate Raksha Bandhan and requested an extra day off to take a competitive exam on Wednesday. However, Escientia Advanced Sciences Pvt Ltd, a company that manufactures intermediate chemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), declined her request, PTI report cited local sources as saying.

According to the report, Harika returned to work, only to become a victim of a powerful vapour cloud explosion at the pharma unit in Atchutapuram on August 21 at 2:20 pm.

C Harika was one of 17 people who lost their lives in the Andhra pharma unit blast, leaving her family devastated.

Harika had already faced significant hardships, having lost her father several years ago. Reports suggest that her older brother had abandoned the family, leaving her to live with her mother and paternal grandmother. Despite these challenges, Harika pursued an engineering degree and joined the pharma unit just 11 months ago, the PTI report added.

Her family, neighbours, and community members were devastated when her body was returned to them on Thursday following a post-mortem examination.

Meanwhile, relatives of the other fatalities and injured workers criticised the company's management for failing to notify them of the incident.

"How can they not inform us? Did they hire these employees without interviews and taking their certificates? Where did the managing director go? Didn't they take our (employees') documents such as Aadhaar while joining," a frustrated woman asked during an interview with a regional news channel.

She questioned whether management had recorded the employees' addresses during recruitment and why they didn't know how many were on duty and how many were absent.

Among those present at the factory during the incident were a few lucky people who were able to escape the tragic accident. One such person was K Satyanarayana, a 30-year-old Eluru resident, reported PTI.

"I had lunch and was seated in the quality control (QC) department on the first floor when we heard a huge sound as if something had collapsed. I quickly rushed downstairs and saw several individuals hurt. "One man lost his hands," Satyanarayana told PTI.

Reportedly, in addition to witnessing many workers with bleeding injuries, Satyanarayana observed that all the equipment in the production laboratory on the ground floor had collapsed, and the explosion had blown away the second-floor slab.

Satyanarayana, along with 11 others, attempted to escape through the emergency exits, but they were engulfed by fumes. They were eventually rescued after breaking a window on the third floor and raising an alarm. "After two hours, ladder vehicles were brought, and all 11 of us were rescued around 4:30 pm. I am a QC executive, and I do analysis. I joined the company only two months ago," he said.

According to Satyanarayana, the unit employs 400 people who work in three shifts to keep the plant running 24/7, stated the PTI report.

The plant, which is located on a 40-acre campus within the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation's multi-product SEZ in the Atchutapuram cluster, is reported to be managed from the United States.

Vangalapudi Anitha, the State Home Minister, said that management disregarded her calls when she attempted to inspect the situation after the explosion. Escientia Advanced Sciences began production in April 2019 after an investment of Rs 200 crore, the report added.