Tension prevailed on National Highway – 5 near Nagarjuna Agrichem factory at Chilakapalem village in Srikakulam district when the villagers staged a demonstration asking the district authorities to close down the factory immediately as it posed a great danger to their lives.
The villagers raised slogans against the factory management and demanded that the district authorities suspend its operations immediately. They argued that had the factory’s blaze been spread to the other reactors, the consequences would have been worst and therefore, the factory should be shut down immediately. They accused the management of failing to take necessary safety measures.
Bowing to the villagers agitations, the Nagarjuna Agrichem factory has suspended its operations temporarily.
Meanwhile, District Collector G Venkatram Reddy served a show-cause notice on the management of factory on Sunday afternoon instructing it to stop operations for a fortnight and sought an explanation on July 15 on the accident and the related issues. He assured the villagers that all steps would be taken to ensure their safety and that requisite steps would be taken against the management.
It may be recalled that a reactor in the plant exploded on Saturday resulting in a huge fire and injuring 17 workers. (INN)