<p>Bengaluru: A minor explosion of equipment used at the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) in Bidadi left five workers injured on Monday, three in critical condition.</p><p>The incident unfolded around 2 pm on Saturday. Amalesh, 31, Umesh, 29, Santon, 31, Tarun, 29, and Lakhan, 28, sustained injuries. Three of them have suffered more than 70 per cent burns and are in critical condition. The survival chances are very slim, said the police. </p><p>The incident unfolded at Karnataka's first-ever Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plant in Bidadi’s KPCL. It was operational from June 2024 under the supervision of two private players. The Karnataka Energy Department was all set to take over the plant soon. </p>.Factory explosion kills one in Telangana, another person critical.<p>According to the police, dry waste is burnt at a high temperature in the WTE plant to ensure complete combustion, and the heat generated is used to generate electricity. This is a technique used to convert dry waste that ends up in landfills to generate electricity. </p><p>An investigator in the case told DH that the injured workers tried to clear the ash in the bottom ash hopper (equipment) by manually poking it, which triggered the sudden outburst of hot ash leading to the incident. </p><p>“The boiler usually ousts the ash, but due to a technical snag, it didn’t happen. Hence, the workers tried to do it manually, leading to the incident,” said the officer.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: A minor explosion of equipment used at the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) in Bidadi left five workers injured on Monday, three in critical condition.</p><p>The incident unfolded around 2 pm on Saturday. Amalesh, 31, Umesh, 29, Santon, 31, Tarun, 29, and Lakhan, 28, sustained injuries. Three of them have suffered more than 70 per cent burns and are in critical condition. The survival chances are very slim, said the police. </p><p>The incident unfolded at Karnataka's first-ever Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plant in Bidadi’s KPCL. It was operational from June 2024 under the supervision of two private players. The Karnataka Energy Department was all set to take over the plant soon. </p>.Factory explosion kills one in Telangana, another person critical.<p>According to the police, dry waste is burnt at a high temperature in the WTE plant to ensure complete combustion, and the heat generated is used to generate electricity. This is a technique used to convert dry waste that ends up in landfills to generate electricity. </p><p>An investigator in the case told DH that the injured workers tried to clear the ash in the bottom ash hopper (equipment) by manually poking it, which triggered the sudden outburst of hot ash leading to the incident. </p><p>“The boiler usually ousts the ash, but due to a technical snag, it didn’t happen. Hence, the workers tried to do it manually, leading to the incident,” said the officer.</p>