Kerala’s ticking bomb

The site of explosion in Lebanon’s capital city Beirut.

Our Correspondent

Kerala, it seems, is sitting on a ticking time bomb. The massive explosion at Beirut port in Lebanon on August 5 leading to the death of over 150 people is a wakeup call for the authorities in Kerala.

The cause of the blast was a large stock of ammonium nitrate, 2,700 tonnes to be specific. Reports say that it was equivalent to a small atomic bomb. And Kerala has stocks of ammonium nitrate weighing anywhere between 5,000 and 35,000 kilograms stored in various districts for use in explosives.

The Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation has granted 17 licenses in Kerala permitting the use of ammonium nitrate. Even though pure ammonium nitrate is not an explosive on its own, if it is mixed with fuel or other explosives it can cause a serious blast.

Taking into account the population density of Kerala, this would be a disastrous situation. Rules say that ammonium Nitrate should be stored in sacks inside concrete buildings. Sacks of ammonium nitrate must not be stacked above 2.5 metres in height.

It must be stored 4.5 to 9 metres away from the walls depending on the storage capacity. The building must have a lightning arrester.

Given the fact that authorities have more than their hands full in various urgent matters, periodical inspections, that is every six months, by the police are impossible in the State. The increasing activities of extremists organisations and other criminals in the State warrant that the authorities step up inspections and adopt stricter measures to control the possession of Ammonium Nitrate

Limiting the issuing of licenses and total quantity allowed to be stored would be the only solution to ward off any accidents similar to the Beirut-like situation.
There are reports that a warehouse located on the outskirts of Chennai has around 740 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored. The authorities inspected the warehouse in the wake of the Beirut blast.