Fire at Gujarat chemical factory brought under control (Update-Gujarat fire)

Ankleshwar (Gujarat), Apr 4 : After nine hours of fire fighting, fire officials brought under control the devastating fire, which had broken out at a chemical factory in Gujarat.

A major fire broke out at the 'Bharuch Enviro infrastructure Ltd. (BEIL)' factory at industrial zone Ankleshwar on Thursday evening which soon swept through the premises.

The cause of the fire is still unknown, though the authorities are trying hard to ascertain the reasons behind the outbreak.

"The chemical waste from the factory was kept in a storage godown for disposal. We are still trying to ascertain the reasons behind the outbreak of the fire," said R. M. Gamit, Divisional Fire Officer.

Authorities had put three villages in the vicinity on a high alert.

Disaster management officials had also installed devices in the surrounding area to measure damage to environment. No casualties have been reported so far.

"Fire is now under control. We had taken precautions regarding emissions from the fire in the surrounding villages. However, we did not need to evacuate any village. We had kept medical teams there on standby and they will continue to be there to keep the locals under observation. There has been no report of any kind of adverse effect. There were no injuries in the fire," said Anita Kanwar, Districtagistrate.

Fire safety laws are lax in India and many factories in congested urban pockets handle hazardous material callously.

Certified under Environment Management System Standards, BEIL is a Company promoted by major industries in Bharuch District.

BEIL has developed a Centralized Secured Landfill Facility at Ankleshwar in 1997-98 and so far, collected and disposed off more than 200000 MT of solid/hazardous wastes from member industries in this region.

ANI