Hyderabad: Residents of Venkat Reddy Nagar and Madhusudhan Reddy Nagar in Cherlapally woke up to a strange blast on Wednesday and saw cement lids of manholes in the area dislodged. They also saw fumes erupting from drainage.
The incident, which police suspect occurred due to chemical waste dumped by pharmaceutical companies, resulted in burn injuries to a labourer, Subhash Kumar Das, 32.
Locals heard a loud noise and soon saw manhole lids move and pungent gas escaping from them. They soon alerted police. Over 30 manhole lids were reportedly displaced by the blast, emitting fumes and causing a fire to erupt in many manholes in the area.
Venkat Reddy Nagar’s resident Subhash, was near a manhole when he suffered burn injuries on his leg. Cherlapally police station’s SHO Y Mallikarjun Reddy, stated that while Das received minor injuries near the drainage. “Pharma companies are suspected of having dumped chemical waste into the nala, leading to the incident,” he said.
The police have since registered a case against unknown persons, and Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB), Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and Disaster Response Teams are investigating the incident. They are questioning pharma companies in the area to determine the cause of the accident, police told Siasat.com.
