FIR against two for Avaada plant accident

Nagpur: Investigation into the 10-lakh litre capacity water tank collapse at Avaada Group's solar panel manufacturing plant that killed six workers and left nine injured on Dec 19 last year revealed gross negligence. An FIR, under bailable provisions for causing death due to negligence, was registered against Avaada project head Prashant Komal Arvind Kumar, and Rajesh Yadav, project head at Goyal Steel Tech, the associated contractor earlier this week. Initially, Butibori police registered an accidental death case. However, following a comprehensive report submitted by the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH), Nagpur, on Jan 20, the police invoked section 106 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (causing death by negligence). Investigations uncovered that the tragedy stemmed from negligence and carelessness in the tank's assembly and testing process, including issues such as loosely fitted nuts and bolts, inadequate safety protocos, and failure to ensure structural integrity under pressure. This incident raised serious concerns over industrial safety standards in the MIDC area, especially at high-stakes renewable energy projects.