Two killed in explosion at firecracker warehouse in Thanjavur: Green verdict notice

Tamil Nadu : The National Green Tribunal has issued notices to the Central Pollution Control Board, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and the District Collector seeking their response on the blast at a firecracker warehouse in Thanjavur in which two people were killed. A man named Sarbuddin from the southern village of Neyveli in Thanjavur district used to buy and sell firecrackers used during festivals. Later his son Abbas used to make local firecrackers. Now Abbas has gone abroad. After this, his sister Samarath Biwi (47) and her son Mohammed Riyaz (19) were running a firecracker warehouse in the same area owned by Annadurai. It is also alleged that they were making firecrackers without permission and selling them for other events including temple festivals. On May 18, Mohammed Riyaz and Sundararajan (60), residents of the same area, were working on making explosives. At that time the explosive suddenly exploded. Mohammed Riyaz and Sundararajan died on the spot. The building collapsed in the explosion. Based on the complaint filed by Village Administrative Officer Palanivel, the Vattathikottai Police Department registered a case and arrested Samarath BV. Based on a newspaper report in this regard, the National Green Tribunal in New Delhi recently conducted a suo motu inquiry. The inquiry was conducted by a bench of tribunal chairman Justice Prakash Srivastava and accomplished secretary A. Senthil Vel. Thirapayam said a newspaper report had indicated that the Environment Protection Act and the Insurance Act were violated in the south side blast accident. The court made the Central Pollution Control Board, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and Thanjavur District Collector as respondents in the case and issued notices to those boards and the collector to respond to the blast accident. The hearing in the case is scheduled to resume on August 1 at the Southern Regional Sessions Court in Chennai.