Order of the National Green Tribunal regarding blast in an ordnance factory, Nagpur, Maharashtra, 03/02/2025
Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of News Item titled "Maharashtra ordnance unit blast blows away factory roof 8 killed" appearing in The Times of India dated 25.01.2025 dated 03/02/2025.
The application was registered suto-motu on the basis of the news item titled "“Maharashtra ordnance unit blast blows away factory roof 8 killed” appearing in The Times of India dated 25/01/2025. The matter related to a massive explosion at the ordnance factory Bhandara (OFBA) near Nagpur, Maharashtra resulting in the death of at least eight workers and injuries caused to five others.
As per the article, the blast occurred in unit manufacturing low temperature plastic explosives (LTPE), where 13 workers, including two apprentices, were present at the time. The explosion's magnitude was so immense that it reduced the facility to rubble, trapping workers beneath the debris. It was reported that the factory, now under Pune-based Munitions India Limited (MIL), is a key defense unit producing high-energy explosives like RDX and HMX for various ammunition types. While production was halted in the affected unit, the rest of the factory remained operational.
The NGT directed Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health, Maharashtra; Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB); Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB); Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Nagpur; Munitions India Limited and District Magistrate, Nagpur. The 6 respondents were directed to file their response/reply by way of affidavit before the western zonal bench of the NGT one week before the next date of hearing (April 4, 2025).