Sigachi report: Production enhancement without trained staff and safety measures led to the explosion

The investigation report by the technical expert committee, which probed the blast at Sigachi Industries in Pashamylaram on June 30, squarely blamed the company management for the accident that killed 54 people.

In its rush to enhance production, the management employed untrained manpower, neglected maintenance of the machinery even while working it overtime, and disregarded the required safety measures, which all reflected gross negligence leading to the explosion, the report said.

Though the report was submitted to the government in September, it has not been publicly shared nor has any action been initiated against the company management.

The committee traced the source of the explosion to the sealing machine, and not the spray dryer as thought earlier. The fire must have been initiated by the accidental burning of the double layered LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene) bags during the sealing operation, and the huge heat thus generated burnt the outer HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) bag, the report said. This generated still more heat leading to fire.

The packing area housing the sealing machine was a confined and congested area, with ready availability of dust cloud from the finished product, Microcrystalline Cellulose (MCC), which aided the ignition leading to huge ‘overpressure wave’, the report noted. The heat only got exacerbated due to burning of over 17 metric tonnes of MCC powder lying in the vicinity.

In April 2025, a new Glass Lined Reactor of 5 kL capacity was commissioned at the facility, following which the production has increased from 5-5.5 tonnes per shift to an average 6.5 tonnes per shift by June 2025. There was increase in manpower intake too, which increased the density of workers at the facility.

In the pursuit of increased production, completely novice, untrained and uneducated workers were made to operate the highly hazardous sealing machine, the report said.

Delving into the lapses by the management, it noted that the civil structure of the plant, designed, constructed and commissioned as per the production planning in 1994, was used to accommodate a lot more heavy machinery for 30 years, with no addition of new civil structures.

“Alteration in the same civil structure was done many times for replacing the old technology with new technology equipment.. Additionally, critical aspects of safety such as adequate training, provision of PPEs, conduct of safety audits, availability of firefighting facilities, and regular mock drills were found to be severely lacking in this industry,” the report said.

The expert committee chaired by B.V.Rao, Former Emeritus Scientist, CSIR-IICT, made recommendations towards annual risk analysis by competent person for Orange and Red category industries, explosion proofing of electrical appliances and fittings in the dust atmosphere, installation of dust extractors/collectors and standards enforced for dust explosion control.

Chief scientist from CSIR-IICT T. Prathap Kumar, Scientist (retired) from CSIR-CLRI, Chennai, M. Surianarayanan, Senior Principal Scientist, CSIR-NCL, Pune, Santosh Ghuge and Fire and Explosion Forensics expert Nilesh Ukunde were other members in the committee.