Visakhapatnam: A minor fire mishap took place in the power plant of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) in the early hours of Thursday. A central government undertaking, the steel plant is located in Paravada on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam city.
There were no casualties nor were there any injuries to any workers reported. However, unconfirmed reports from the steel plant employees said that there was an estimated loss of over two crores, incurred to the machinery in the power plant.
According to D Durgaprasad, assistant general manager and an official spokesman of the VSP, fire was reported in the power plant-2 of the steel plant at around 4.45 am, apparently due to leakage of oil from the lubrication system. “Fire services from Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) were called and the fire was brought under control immediately. The damage is being assessed to bring back the PP-2 at the earliest,” he said.
“The cables connecting the affected power plant with the main grid have been segregated, so that the power supply from the other plant continues uninterruptedly,” the official said, adding that an internal probe is going on to ascertain the exact cause.
There are two captive thermal power plants near the main entrance of the steel plant – one generating 243 MW and another 120 MW. The fire mishap occurred in the 120 MW power plant due to leakage of lubricant in the oil pump, which is known to have burnt the entire power generating turbine.
Earlier on July 13, a fire broke out in Visakha Solvents Limited, a chemical plant that recovers waste solvents from pharmaceutical units, located at Ramky Pharma City, closer to Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. The mishap led to the explosion of a reactor in the plant leading to the death of one person and injuries to three others.