A worker was seriously injured when a digester exploded at NSL Sugars, a private sugar mill, at Koppa near Maddur on Wednesday.
The digester [also called as major distillery spent wash tank], containing several lakh litres of the distillery spent wash, exploded owing to a suspected pressure build-up or its poor condition, the police said.
Anand, a technician from Cauvery Nagar 2nd stage in Mandya town, was working near the unit when the incident took place. The digester exploded with a deafening sound and the wall near the area collapsed sending debris flying across the ground. Several lakh litres of hazardous distillery spent wash gushed out and entered nearby paddy fields, damaging standing crops on at least 130 acres, the officials said. Anand, according to his colleagues, fell to the ground. They rushed to the spot hearing the sound of the explosion and he was taken to a private hospital in Mysuru.
The Police, Revenue and Labour Department officials carried out inspection.
Sources at the Department of Factories and Boilers said the experts concerned will conduct an investigation. Members of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha staged a protest outside the mill and demanded crop loss compensation and action against the mill for causing damages to crops.
The people were warned by the district administration against using Shimsha river water for their daily needs following the blast of the digester. Untreated effluents is suspected to have drained into the river, downstream of the sugar mill.
The chances of the water being contaminated are high and hence the public should not use the water for agriculture, bathing, drinking purpose for cattle and people, a release said.
