The NTPC power plant explosion was a

boiler explosion A boiler explosion is a catastrophic failure of a boiler. There are two types of boiler explosions. One type is a failure of the pressure parts of the steam and water sides. There can be many different causes, such as failure of the safety val ...

that occurred on 1 November 2017 at a newly commissioned 500-megawatt unit of the Feroze Gandhi Unchahar coal-fired power plant. The plant is operated by government-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Limited, in

Unchahar Unchahar is a town and nagar panchayat in Raebareli district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of a tehsil as well as a community development block. It is located on National Highway 24B (India), Lucknow Allahab ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The explosion killed 32 people who may have been cleaning ash from the boiler's interior.

Explosion

On 1 November 2017, at around 3:30 p.m.

local time Local time is the time observed in a specific locality. There is no canonical definition. Originally it was mean solar time, but since the introduction of time zones it is generally the time as determined by the time zone in effect, with daylight s ...

(GMT +5:30) a

occurred at the 1,550-megawatt (MW)

Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Station Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Plant is located at Unchahar in Raebareli district in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The power plant is one of the coal based power plants of NTPC Limited. In the year 1992, Uttar Pradesh State Electricity B ...

operated by government-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Limited, in

, Raebareli district,

, India, killing 38 people and injuring 100 others. The blast hit the 500-MW Unit 6 that had been operating since April 2017. At the time nearly two hundred workers were on duty. According to a statement released by NTPC, "there was sudden abnormal sound at 20 m. elevation and there was an opening ... from which hot flue gases and steam escaped, affecting the people working around the area". Three plant officials were suspended and arrested in connection with the explosion. They were charged with criminal negligence causing death and later granted bail by the Allahabad High Court.

Response

More than 150 ambulances were engaged in relief and rescue work.

Central Reserve Police Force The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is a central armed police force in India under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The CRPF assists states and Union Territories in maintaining law and order and internal security. It is composed of the Cent ...

and local police were deployed at the plant which was sealed to check any unauthorised entry.

Reaction

The Uttar Pradesh state government offered cash compensation of Rs. 200,000 ($4,015) to the families of the deceased, Rs. 50,000 for the severely injured and Rs. 25,000 to those who sustained minor injuries. India's Minister of Power R. K. Singh announced Rs. 2 million ''

ex gratia (; also spelled ''ex-gratia'') is Latin for "by favor", and is most often used in a legal context. When something has been done ''ex gratia'', it has been done voluntarily, out of kindness or grace. In law, an ''ex gratia payment'' is a payment ...

'' for the next of kin of those killed in the accident. Indian Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

in a statement said that he was "deeply pained by the accident at the NTPC plant in Raebareli". He further added that, "my thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the injured recover quickly. The situation is being closely monitored and officials are ensuring normalcy is restored". The

National Human Rights Commission of India The National Human Rights Commission of India (abbreviated as NHRC) is a statutory body constituted on 12 October 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Ordinance of 28 September 1993. It was given a statutory basis by the Protection of Huma ...

served a notice to the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government over the death of more than 30 people in the blast, demanding an immediate high-level probe into its cause.NTPC power plant blast: NHRC issues notice to UP govt on death toll
''Mint'', 2 November 2017 The UP government ordered a magisterial inquiry by a two-member technical team to determine the cause of the blast within seven days. On 6 November 2017, Union Power Ministry has set up a committee headed by P.D. Siwal, Member of Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to investigate the causes of this accident and suggest measures to prevent such incidents in future. The firm has launched an investigation into the blast at the plant, based near the town of Unchahar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:NTPC power plant explosion 2017 disasters in India 2017 industrial disasters Explosions in 2017 November 2017 in India Boiler explosions Disasters in Uttar Pradesh Industrial fires and explosions in India Raebareli district