Mishap at Bidadi power generation unit: One succumbs to injury; minister orders technical probe

Bengaluru: One of the five men who were injured in a minor explosion of equipment used at the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) in Bidadi last week succumbed to injuries on Tuesday.

The incident unfolded around 2 pm on Saturday. Amalesh, 31, Santon, 31, Tarun, 29, and Lakhan, 28, sustained injuries. Umesh, 29, who suffered more than 70 per cent burn injuries succumbed to it on Tuesday. The survival chances of others are also slim, police said.

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.

As soon as the news broke on Tuesday, Energy Minister K J George announced a technical investigation into the Bidadi power generation unit, where the incident unfolded.

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.

An investigator 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.

“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.

The minister clarified that the ISGEC company set up the plant, which has not yet been transferred to KPCL. The incident took place during the inspection phase. He further stated that the plant will be officially inaugurated once all issues are resolved, reaffirming his commitment to a safe and efficient plant.