The human cost of factory explosions

On August 21, a blast at Escientia Advanced Sciences, a pharmaceutical manufacturing unit in Anakapalli district of Andhra Pradesh, left 17 people dead and 36 injured. Since 2019, up to 119 industrial accidents have occurred in undivided Visakhapatnam district, of which Anakapalli is a part, leading to the deaths of 120 people. Harish Gilai reports on the alleged negligence and apathy by companies and the precarious lives of workers