Houses Destroyed in Blast That Killed 13 at MP Firecracker Factory, Workers, Kin Agitate for Justice

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Harda (Madhya Pradesh): The markets in Harda are shuttered. But this is small price for a shattered existence, says one in the small group of people who have been staging a sit-in and hunger strike in the town for the last five days. 

 The protesters at the Ghanta Ghar Chowk are primarily the families of victims who died in the massive blasts at the city’s firecracker factory. The health of three of the women among them have rapidly deteriorated, necessitating hospitalisation. 

“We are compelled to leave our homes and loved ones to take to the streets. Our lives have been ended thus,” a protester adds.

On February 6, the explosion at the city’s firecracker factory led to 13 deaths. The factory had a total of 200 workers. Official data said the blast resulted in 172 injuries, including 13 children, 63 women, and 96 men. 

There have since been questions over the authorisation granted for operating the fireworks factory in Magardha Road, a densely populated area. 

39 houses completely destroyed

Spread across 1.75 acres, the factory, owned by Raju Agrawal, Somesh Agrawal, and Pradeep Agrawal, had explosives stored in two separate godowns. Electrical wiring ran through the factory, leading to speculation of a possible short circuit igniting the blaze.

The blast damaged 59 nearby houses, with 39 completely destroyed. Of this 39 were 21 constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Many of those who lived closest to the factory also worked in it. 

The explosions were so intense that debris scattered far and wide, with fragments landing up to 70 metres away. The force of the blasts was felt within a 15-kilometre radius, shattering windows of homes situated approximately 5 kilometres away on Indore Road as well.

Bharati Raju Kamedia, the municipal president, told reporters that the area was previously labelled as ‘rural’, allowing the factory to operate for two decades before being incorporated into the ward following boundary changes. 

Kamedia said that the factory, situated in the Bairagarh ward, is surrounded by residential houses.

Harda collector Aditya Singh said that the 39 houses that have been decimated are within a 100-metre radius. “Additionally, the district administration is actively assessing dwellings within an extra 500-metre range,” he said.

Singh claimed there has been swift response and immediate relief totalling Rs 5 lakhs has been disbursed to all affected families.

“The assets of the perpetrators have been seized for restitution purposes “All materials recovered from the site have been seized by the district authorities for further investigation,” he added.

Seized property includes their agricultural land, house, and shop which total an estimated value of Rs 18 crore. The seized property will be auctioned, and the proceeds will be used to provide relief to the victims. The district administration has also seized assets in other locations belonging to the accused, and is collecting information about properties owned by their relatives. This action has been taken in compliance with the orders of the National Green Tribunal, Singh said.

Singh said one woman has suffered an amputation, with 31 individuals sustaining partial fractures, ten of whom remain hospitalised in Bhopal and Indore.

So far, seven arrests have been made, with 20 licences, including those of 16 from the accused’s kin, and four others, suspended.

Several ‘irregularities’

This factory in Bairagarh covered an area of 2.5 acres, but according to official records, only 3,500 square feet was diverted for other use. However, there permanent constructions occupy more than 10,000 square feet, say protesters.

No action was taken by the authorities, they said.

In 2022 during an investigation by the then SDM of Harda, Shruti Aggarwal, several irregularities were revealed, including the fact that  approved plans or drawings of the factory were missing, that the factory was a three-storey building instead of a single storey, with different operations on each floor, that the factory’s godown was inside the building, contrary to regulations and that the quantity of explosives exceeded the licensed amount by a large margin.

Mohit Chauhan (19), a factory worker, said he was on the first floor when the explosion occurred. Chauhan said that gunpowder was also stored in his house, adjacent to the factory. 

Admitted to the district hospital, Shivdas (26) said he was working at the warehouse adjacent to Chauhan’s house. Shivdas believes that a box of gunpowder fell, leading to the explosion.

One Anup Prajapati, employed in the fireworks factory, said that although he managed to escape, his uncle Priyanshu, who had arrived to check on him, on learning of the explosion, succumbed to fatal injuries when the second explosion occurred. 

Another employee, Muskan Koghe, said she had taken her three-year-old daughter Pari to work that day.

Survivors’ demands

Twenty days since the incident, the lives of those affected remain in disarray, with 129 individuals from 48 families still residing in the relief camp.

Ashik Ali and Saina are a couple who worked at this factory. Saina said that chemicals were stored on the third floor, where firecrackers were made and coloured before being dried and packed. Ashiq Ali explained that they used a flour mill to grind chemical powder, and they were unsure about the quantity of gunpowder coming in and going out of the factory. Workers were paid Rs 250 for making 1,000 firecrackers. Asif and Saina made 4,000 firecrackers daily, earning Rs 500 each. On average, 500 people worked daily in this factory, while 2000 labourers worked at the Agarwals’ four other factories.

Kin of the deceased have said that the administration’s offer of Rs 1.25 lakh as compensation is inadequate for rebuilding homes ravaged by the tragedy. Affected individuals insist on fair compensation or the reconstruction of their houses so they can be restored to pre-blast conditions. 

Protesters’ discussions with officials, including those from the Mandi Traders Association, have yielded little progress. 

For the past 20 days, survivors and their families have been housed in a relief camp at the ITI College in the city. 

The demands of the victims include:

1. Rs 15 lakh as compensation to the families of the deceased and Rs 15 lakh to the injured. They have only received Rs 5 lakh as compensation so far.
2. Ensuring that those whose houses have been damaged receive funds at market rates to rebuild their homes.
3. Rs 2.5 lakh to compensate for the losses suffered by tenants.
4. Employment opportunities for the disabled and dependents of the deceased workers.
5. Deployment of a special team to ascertain the exact number of casualties.

Survivors and the victims’ families have demanded that the investigation into the incident entail assessing the explosion’s intensity and conducting forensic analysis in an independent laboratory.

Legal action, they said, should include adding sections of murder, including the National Security Act (NSA) and child labour laws, to the cases against the factory owner Rajesh Aggarwal and the other accused, as well as identifying responsible administrative officers and pressing criminal charges against them.

Additionally, the survivors and kin of the deceased said that a separate case should be filed against administrative officials who failed to take appropriate action. Further action should involve the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and a fact-finding committee chaired by a retired high court judge, with representation from the victims.