Aavin issued showcause notice for flouting safety normas at Sholinganallur dairy

 

 

CHENNAI: The Fire and Rescue Services has issued showcause notice to Aavin (the Tamil nadu Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation Ltd) for flouting fire safety norms in its dairy at Sholinaganallur.

The Continental Ware Housing Corporation was also pulled up for not obtaining a no-objection certificate from the authorities for a godown it had leased out in Madhavaram.

Last month, several tonnes of milk powder were destroyed in a major blaze at the Aavin dairy in Sholinganallur. Even as the fire control room was alerted, the blaze spread rapidly and engulfed the entire building. Later, 40 firemen, five fire engines and 15 Metrowater lorries rushed to the spot to contain the blaze. The total loss was pegged at Rs 2.5 crore.

The plant on Rajiv Gandhi Salai was one of the three in Chennai. The other two are at Ambattur and Madhavaram. They supplied a total of 10.5 lakh litres of milk to the city daily. "The Sholinganallur dairy alone supplies 3.5 lakh litres to areas in South Chennai," said Vasudevan. a spokesman for Aavin. Milk powder packed in polythene and paper bags was brought in from Erode, Salem and other districts and stored there.

In another incident last month, a fire at the Continental Ware Housing Corporation godown damaged more than Rs 18 crore worth of chemicals and furniture. Two persons, trapped in the fire, suffered 75% burns and were admitted to a private hospital, the police said.

According to the police, the fire broke out at the godown where imported chemicals and furniture were kept for customs clearance.

As the fire raged, the owner of the godown, Vinod, rushed there with manager R Ritheesh. The police said the two opened the shutter and tried to go inside the godown and put out the fire but got trapped. They rushed out crying and the security persons wrapped blankets around them. By then they had suffered third degree burns, the police said.