Saraca Laboratories unit in Sangareddy shut after chloroform leak killed two workers; inspectors found no leak alarms

A bulk-drug unit at Gaddapotharam, an industrial belt in Sangareddy district, has been shut down after a chloroform leak killed two of its workers. The Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TGPCB) has told Saraca Laboratories to stop all production at the unit in Jinnaram mandal, and directed the Southern Power Distribution Company to disconnect its electricity supply.

The leak happened at about 11:30 pm on Thursday, 22 October, in Production Block 2. Workers were separating layers of a chloroform mixture and sending it down from a first-floor reactor to a vessel below when the vapour escaped and spread fast across the block. Two workers from Andhra Pradesh, Sudarshan Rao and Balaji, lost consciousness and were declared dead on arrival at Narayana Hospital. Six other workers fell seriously ill.

What the inspectors found

Board officials inspected the unit the next day. The plant had no alarm sensors to detect a leak, and its equipment to control vapour emissions fell short. Calling the incident serious, the board issued the closure order on Friday, 23 October, without giving the company a hearing.

Taking up the deaths on its own, the State Human Rights Commission has told the Sangareddy district Collector to send a full account by 26 November.