Tragic boiler explosion exposes illegal and unsafe practices at Kerala factory | Kochi News

Kochi: Aluva factory and boiler department officials have submitted their preliminary inquiry report on the same Edayar cauldron Blast to the director of the department on Wednesday. A migrant worker was killed and three others were injured in the explosion on Saturday evening.
According to the report, animal fat processing unit Formal Trade Links LLP had installed the boiler illegally. The factory received a stop memorandum on Monday and the department is preparing to issue a flagship notice.
“If the boiler had been manufactured and installed as per the Indian Boiler Regulations (IBR), this accident could have been avoided,” an official said. IBR compliant boilers are equipped with an automatic water filling system to prevent overheating. However, the locally manufactured boiler lacked such protective measures. Workers had to manually refill water as levels fell, relying on a red marker to indicate low water levels.
“On the day of the accident, the workers did not notice the drastic drop in water. As they were pumping water into the overheated boiler, the sheet metal exploded due to the sudden expansion, leading to the tragic incident,” an official said.