Goregaon public toilet deaths: Metal plating unit booked for illegally storing hazardous substances

MUMBAI: Nearly 10 days after two young men died after inhaling poisonous gas inside a public toilet in Goregaon, the Vanrai police have registered an FIR against a metal plating unit for allegedly storing and using acid and other hazardous substances without the required permissions and safety measures

MUMBAI: Nearly 10 days after two young men died after inhaling poisonous gas inside a public toilet in Goregaon, the Vanrai police have registered an FIR against a metal plating unit for allegedly storing and using acid and other hazardous substances without the required permissions and safety measures.

The police said the substances stored at SS Enterprises, a metal plating unit at Anna Nagar, Kama Estate on Walbhat Road in Goregaon East, had leaked from underground chambers and reached the adjoining public toilet, where Bhavin Desai, 18, and Prabhakar Dhivar, 25, died after inhaling the toxic fumes.

The FIR has been registered against the owner of the unit under Section 287 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deals with negligent conduct involving combustible substances that endangers human life. Police have also invoked Sections 37(1)(b), which prohibits the carrying of corrosive substances or explosives, and 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act, relating to disobedience of lawful orders.

“On September 28, we had arrested Vipul Chawda, who had leased the land to the metal plating unit,” said Abdul Rauf Shaikh, senior police inspector of Vanrai police station. A police team has been sent to Uttar Pradesh to trace the operator of the metal plating unit, he added.

According to the police, on Tuesday, a tip-off received by PSI Pradip Shinde and the ATC squad led officers to S.S. Enterprises, where steel plate polishing and shining work was being carried out.

The informer had told the police that plastic cans containing acid were being stored recklessly at the premises, posing a risk to human life.

Acting on the information, police inspected the unit, which occupied a room measuring about 10 feet by 20 feet. They found steel plates being polished using an acid-mixed solution in three tanks. Two black plastic cans, each with a capacity of 40 litres, were also found in the middle of the room.

During the inspection, Nitin Kamalaprasad Singh, 27, approached the police and told them that the substance stored in the cans was acid. When one of the cans was opened, police noticed a pungent odour and fumes emanating from it.

The inspection also revealed that the unit had no safety equipment or other precautions required for handling hazardous chemicals.

“A case has been registered because the acid was stored and used in the factory without the necessary Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) licence or other required permits and without adequate safety precautions, despite the knowledge that such negligence could likely result in injury or harm to human life,” a police officer said.