Pune: Officials of the Ammunition Factory Khadki (AFK) said the families of the two victims of the explosion at the factory will soon get Rs 10 lakh compensation each besides a job for one family member of each victim.
A thorough safety audit of the Ammunition Factory Khadki has been conducted by the Kolkata-headquartered Ordnance Factory Board (OFB). The audit, which was scheduled, also comes on the backdrop of the explosion which resulted in death of two factory workers on June 15.
Ashok Dubal (52) and Maria Rock (48) were transferring stored explosives from building number 171 of the F2 section to another building, ahead of the scheduled safety audit. Both were experienced workers and they were wearing safety gear including suits and gloves. The intensity of the explosion was such that their bodies were charred beyond recognition.
“As there is anger among workers, we have expedited the process of compensation and giving jobs. A safety audit has been conducted. We hope it will take care of some of the burning issues at the British-era factory,” an official from AFK said.
AFK has core competency in manufacturing small arms ammunition, grenades, mortars, detonators, fuses, primers, igniters, squibs, power cartridges and sporting arms ammunitions.
AFK came into being on December 16, 1869 as a small arms manufacturing unit of the British government. Though originally planned for manufacturing small arms, subsequently AFK created a facility for manufacturing medium calibre and large calibre ammunition as well.
However, with passage of time Pune city expanded and the factory which was located far from civilian population came in the centre of the city and this affected safety distance regulations and consequently a large number of high calibre and medium calibre ammunition were shifted to other sister factories.