Visakhapatnam: Officials inspect ammonium nitrate warehouse

Visakhapatnam: District officials inspected the warehouse in Visakhapatnam on Friday where the hazardous ammonium nitrate was stored.

Shravan Shipping Services Pvt Limited located in Mindi is the warehouse facilitator in Andhra Pradesh. The warehouse at Mindi has a storage of 18,500 metric tonnes of ammonium nitrate.

The massive explosion in Beirut on August 4 that killed over 130 people and wounded thousands has raised serious concerns about the storage of ammonium nitrate in the port city.

Speaking on the occasion, District Collector V Vinay Chand said there will not be any threat to Visakhapatnam with the ammonium nitrate in future. He directed the officials to examine the storage points. According to the technical experts, the chemical is said to be burnt only at temperatures exceeding 270 degrees Centigrade.

Ammonium nitrate is imported from foreign countries such as Russia and Gulf countries and stored in the warehouse near Mindi village. According to the requirement, the chemical will be handed over to the agencies concerned. Except in Visakhapatnam, there are no such agencies in Andhra Pradesh. Firms from other States place orders directly from overseas.

Officials who inspected the warehouse assessed other technical aspects and concluded that there is no threat of ammonium nitrate to the city.

However, it was suggested that more in-depth inspections to be carried out by the disaster management department and improved precautionary measures will be taken by the fire brigades. Revenue Divisional Officer P Kishore, Pollution Control Board Environment Engineer Subhan and Inspector of Factories Shankar Reddy inspected the warehouse.