20201002 Fire at under-construction Bengaluru power plant, 15 hurt
India Oct 02 2020 “Building” “Other bldg.”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured more than 10
Fire at under-construction Bengaluru power plant, 15 hurt
Updated: 2020–10–03
Residents living near the Yelahanka power plant, which belongs to KPCL, called the 370MW gas-based unit a safety hazard
ENGALURU: An accidental fire at an under-construction power plant in Yelahanka in north Bengaluru on Friday left 15 employees injured. Two of them have received serious injuries, but are out of danger.
Residents who live in a 300-metre radius called the 370MW gas-based plant belonging to Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) a safety hazard.
Police sources said the fire broke out around 3.20am. The control room received a call in 10 minutes, and four fire tenders doused the blaze in an hour. KPCL, however, said it was a “freak fire accident”.
Investigations and statements from the power plant’s technical staff point to gas and lubricant oil leaks at the turbine as the cause of the fire.
A senior officer from the KPCL, which is implementing the project, said all workers were getting medical help and called the incident ‘minor’, adding glitches occur when systems are tested. A fire officer said plant officials were yet to estimate the loss.
Accident occurred while testing plant, it caught fire in 10 secs’ The accident occurred while we were testing the plant, and it caught fire in 10 seconds. Since it was the first time we were commissioning the plant, curious employees stood near the turbine that caught fire. On other days, they wouldn’t go near the plant,” the KPCL official told TOI, without elaborating on safety systems at the plant or on leaks the preliminary probe has indicated.
General Electric and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) which supplied the systems have been intimated, and a root-cause analysis will be done soon, he said, adding corrective steps will be done based on the findings.
Police identified the injured employees as HN Srinivas, Krishna Bhat, Manoj, Nitish (engineer), Narasimha Murthy and Harish (all at Aster hospital) and Akul Raghuram, Srinivas, Ashoka and DP Srinivasan, Manjappa, Ashwath Narayan, Ravi KP and Balraj (all at Ramaiah hospital).
Residents near the plant and the Yelahanka-Puttenahalli Lake and Bird Conservation Trust have been opposing the plant since it was mooted. Many people told TOI the plant endangers their lives and affects the lake and its ecology.
Government officials said the plant is safe and not as polluting as the diesel power plant that’s at the same location.
CK Baba, deputy commissioner of police (northeast), said the 15 injured are out of danger. “The injured were rushed to hospital by the time we reached the spot. We doused the flames using four fire tenders,” Kishore ML, district fire officer (Yelahanka) said.
Later, Kishore said KPCL had not obtained the no-objection certificate to conduct tests.
The KPCL official, however, said: “An NOC from the fire department is not required. We wanted to follow guidelines and approached the fire department regarding it a month ago, and officials told us we didn’t need anything because we had fire protection in place.” He said the blaze was contained within the turbine area and added that the fire protection system was activated instantaneously and carbon dioxide stored in chambers doused the flames in seconds.
Web Source: The times of India