Power, water connections at plant to be cut

The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has issued notices to disconnect water and power supply to Ank Pharma, the chemical plant in Boisar where a blast

The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has issued notices to disconnect water and power supply to Ank Pharma, the chemical plant in Boisar where a blast on January 11 claimed the lives of eight people.

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The Chief Minister’s Relief Fund also released compensation of ₹5 lakh to each of the victims’ families.

MPCB had previously issued a consent letter to the unit on January 2, but the chemical plant started to test the reactor to manufacture ammonium nitrate without permission from other requisite authorities.

“Despite the unit not getting a completion certificate from the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), Boisar, the unit owner Natwarlal Patel, 55, without permission from Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH), Vasai and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Thane, started to test the reactor, leading to the blast,” said a government official.

“It was the same department which gave the consent letter when the unit was not even fully constructed, and now they have issued orders to disconnect the power and water supply. This is laughable,” said social activist Kundan Sankhe . On Wednesday, Sena MP from Palghar, Rajendra Gavit, issued ₹5 lakh cheques to the families of each of the victims who died in the blast.