Major fire rages in plastic unit at Khordha in Odisha

Reported by Surya Narayan Mohanty
Khordha, Dec 7:

A major fire has broken out in a plastic goods manufacturing unit at the Industrial Estate at Khordha, 25 km from the Odisha capital.

Six fire tenders have been pressed into service to tame the blaze. Water is being supplied to the fire tenders engaged in the action from the supply line of IDCO and the Kingfisher beer manufacturing unit nearby.

Fire tenders and fire men are engaged in a back breaking exercise to control the fire that had already been blazing for four hours when this report was being written.

“Fire tenders from Khordha, Bhubaneswar and Jatni have been pressed into service. We are trying our best to douse the blaze,” said Debendra Kumar Swain, Fire Officer, Khordha, who is supervising the operations.

According to the employees of the Siva Shankar Trading Ltd, which is among the largest manufacturers of disposable plastic tumblers and other disposable items in the state, fire engulfed the fourth floor of the factory while they were trying to drive away bees which had formed a hive on the outer taaza of the factory building using fire.

“It’s a big loss for us. The factory was started just eight months back. We are the largest manufacturer of disposable plastic tumblers and other disposable plastic items used in weddings and parties. The factory was built at a cost of Rs 8 crore with Rs 3 crore as promoter’s investment and Rs 5 crore as loan from banks and financial institutions,”, said Akash Agarwall, son of Mira Devi of Cuttack who is the proprietor of Siva Shankar Trading Ltd.