Gayatri Vajpeyee
Pune:
Calling for zero tolerance towards accidents in explosives and ammunition manufacturing units, defence production secretary Sanjeev Kumar on Friday said that safety lapses must be eliminated through strict implementation of existing norms, and greater use of technology.
Speaking at a seminar organised by the Controllerate of Quality Assurance (military explosives), Pune, on military explosives and propellants – safety and compliance and quality assurance, defence production in Pune, Kumar said that recent accidents at defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs) and private explosives manufacturing units prompted the ministry of defence to review safety practices across the sector.
“Our assessment was that the issue is not the lack of safety standards, but the failure to implement them sincerely. Over the years, people tend to become complacent and start taking established processes casually,” Kumar said.
Stressing that accidents involving explosives have devastating consequences, he said that the focus should be on preventing every possible incident.
{{/usCountry}}Stressing that accidents involving explosives have devastating consequences, he said that the focus should be on preventing every possible incident.
{{/usCountry}}“I am using the word ‘eliminated’ very consciously. We cannot be satisfied with merely reducing accidents because the loss of human life is irreversible,” he said.
Kumar said a committee constituted after recent accidents found that comprehensive safety standards and safeguards are already in place. The challenge, he said, lies in ensuring their consistent enforcement on the ground.
To strengthen compliance, he advocated greater deployment of technology such as sensors, CCTV cameras, automated monitoring systems and data analytics to continuously monitor operations and reduce reliance on manual supervision.
“Technology can help us supervise, control and correct processes in real time with minimal human intervention,” he said.
According to data shared by the Centre in Parliament in March 2025, ordnance factories reported 62 industrial accidents in 2024, 75 in 2023, 83 in 2022, 74 in 2021 and 54 in 2020. Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region witnessed several explosions and safety incidents at defence public sector undertakings and private explosives manufacturing units in recent years.
The defence secretary added that the government has simplified approval procedures for defence manufacturers by reducing the number of stakeholders involved in clearances from 19 to three, bringing down approval timelines from three to six months to less than a month.