Umred unit made raw material, hence not under PESO ambit

Nagpur: MMP Limited unit at Umred does not fall under the ambit of Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) — the national nodal agency for regulating safety of hazardous substances like explosives, compressed gases and petroleum. MMP Ltd makes aluminium powder, which is also supplied to the commercial explosive industry as a raw material. Nagpur-headquartered PESO issues safety guidelines and ensures compliance for explosives making units.

Sources said what the MMP Ltd makes is a raw material and explosives are not made as an end product at the unit. Hence, this keeps it out of PESO ambit. The company has been making aluminium powder for 40 years. It also has a plant at Bhandara, said a company source.

The directorate of industrial safety and health (DISH) will conduct an inspection to probe the cause of the blast. The state govt ordered a multi-agency inspection, including one by DISH, after last year's explosion at Chamundi Explosives, a cracker manufacturing unit that left seven dead. Units like MMP Ltd were not covered because it is not technically an explosive maker, said a source.

MMP Ltd does not supply to the explosive sector alone. A chunk of its product also goes to the fertiliser industry for making fumigants, said company sources. Apart from this, the aluminium powder is also used to make autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) blocks, said a source in the company.

The incident has also left the experts puzzled as was unexpected that aluminium powder would cause such a devastating explosion, said sources.

It is uncommon for aluminium powder to explode. However, dust explosions do happen, said a source taking part in the post-blast process. Dust or any fine particle inherently does tend to blast. There is a likelihood that static electricity may have caused the blast. However, these are mere speculations, and the cause can be determined only after a physical inspection which would be possible only after temperature recedes, a source said.

Sources said the blast took place in the polishing machine of the Umred unit. The aluminium powder goes through a slow rotation process during which certain chemical properties are added to it. The temperature remained high in the factory, preventing officials from entering throughout the day. It would take considerable time to probe the entire incident and pinpoint the cause, said sources. The injured workers, whose statements need to be taken, were not in a position to speak at present.

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