ONGOLE: In spite of the claims of the authorities concerned that they are keeping a strict vigil on illegal blasts in granite units in the district, unauthorised usage of explosives is going on unabated at some places. In one such incident, property worth around `70 lakh was damaged after huge boulders fell on a temporary shed and damaged some machines due to the unauthorised blasts in a granite unit at Vemavaram village in Ballikurava mandal on Tuesday.
According to sources, supervisor of Lakshmi Balaji Granite Polishing Unit, S Ashok Kumar Reddy belonging to Anantapur district conducted the unauthorised blast. The quarry owners usually dig a pit to let the waste water from the quarry flow into it.
They were digging a pit when a rock obstructed the process. To blast it, they unauthorisedly used explosives. The boulders tossed up in the air and fell on the metal sheet roof of neighbouring Vinayaka Granite Polishing Unit causing damage to the machinery to a tune of about `70 lakh. The blast, which was heard for several kilometres, left the people in the nearby villages in a state of panic.
Granite worker falls to death
In another incident, a granite worker died after he fell from the terrace of his workplace in the early hours of Tuesday. The deceased was identified as Omprakash (39) of Churu district in Rajasthan. He was working at Masha Allah Granite Factory at Marrichetlapalem in Chimakurthi mandal of the district. He slept on the terrace of the building which does not have a parapet wall and fell down from there in sleep, police said. Chimakurthi police registered a case and sent the body to RIMS, Ongole for postmortem.