OUR BUREAU
DIGBOI/DIBRUGARH: A major fire broke out at one of the plants of Brahmaputra Valley Fertiliser Corporation Limited (BVFCL) in Namrup on Sunday evening, amid elaborate preparations for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit to the area on December 21, in Dibrugarh district. According to Namrup Police Station officer-in-charge Mintu Boro, the fire was swiftly brought under control following the prompt response from various disaster control teams.
"No human casualties have been reported till the evening," Boro said at the time of filling the news. However, the extent of damage to property is fully assessed and officially ascertained, the police official added.
It may be recalled that a major explosion had earlier rocked an ammonia-urea plant at BVFCL in 2020. The blast reportedly occurred in the pipeline connecting the high-pressure ammonia synthesis gas compressor and the ammonia reactor, which passes through the preheated furnace in Unit-II.
Obsolete and outdated machinery and equipment were cited as the cause of that explosion. While the typical operational life of a chemical plant is about 20 years, the Namrup unit is reportedly more than 45 years old.
In a related development, the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers has engaged Projects & Development India Limited (PDIL) to undertake a comprehensive performance study of the Namrup-III plant of BVFCL and identify critical operational and technical weaknesses.
The government has informed a Parliamentary Committee that PDIL has also been tasked with recommending specific remedial and modernisation measures aimed at enabling the ageing unit to achieve optimal operational efficiency. PDIL, a leading public sector consultancy, is widely recognised for its expertise in handling pre-project activities and technical evaluations for new industrial plants.
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