The story so far: On the morning of June 30 at 9.10 am an explosion tore by Sigachi Industries, a pharmaceutical factory, and a three -storey building in Pashamylaram flattened on the edge of Hyderabad. The listed entity estimated the death toll at 39 of the 143 employees who were on site during the explosion.
Emergency services personnel who are seen on the site on the site after the explosion at the Sigachi Industries PVT. Ltd. Factory in the industrial area of Pashamylaram in the Sangareddy district on Wednesday 2 July 20215. | Photocredit: Nagara Gopal
What happened?
A committee with four members investigates the cause of the explosion. The committee is led by B. Venkateshwar Rao, emeritus scientist at CSIR-ICT, and includes T. Prathap Kumar, chief scientist at CSIR-ICT; Surya Narayana, retired scientist at CSIR-Clri; and Santosh Ghuge, safety officer at CSIR-NCL, Pune. Although the cause is being investigated, the pharmaceutical company has issued a statement: “The accident was not caused by the reactor explosion.”
Sigachi Industries was founded in 1989 and was the production of microcrystalline cellulose. This is nothing more than refined wood pulp or powder. This powder is formed in tablets and serves as an excipient or a non-reactive carrier of medicine. The wooden pulp or slurry is processed in a spraying dryer that derives from moisture with hot air. Once processed, the wood pulp turns into a fine powder or microcrystalline cellulose. This fine powder is probably blown up on that fateful Monday morning. One of the first to be absorbed such 'dust explosions' was in Turin in Italy in 1785 when a boy who worked with flour in a bakery created a cloud of flower that was illuminated by the Lamplight. Two people, including the boy, were injured. There is a long report of similar substance explosions in flower factories, coal mines and granules silos that kill dozens around the world. Brand forensic experts say that the explosion at Sigachi was a substance explosion, given the scale of damage, raw materials used and involved processes. Initially it was suspected that the explosion is a boiling liquid that expands vapor explosion, a technical term with regard to the pressure that is built up in the reactor. But this is excluded by the company, as well as experts.
Was there a legal failure?
The laxity of the regulatory framework was grim on the day of the explosion. When the fire brigade and care providers hurried to the site, they had no information about what they were against. The constitutional and central pollution control boards oblige a sign outside the factory buildings with details about the pollution potential of the institution and factory activities. The fire fights and rescue operations of disasters are led by this information. The Green Board of Environment Display Boards outside the Sigachi industry did not have Proforma Milieeugtatens that save fire brigade and disasters that have no idea of the nature of the material involved and how to put the fire. A difficult legal framework with periodic checks would have ensured that information was available for a faster emergency aid.
This incident comes close to other serious accidents at pharmaceutical companies in India. Six people were killed in Sangareddy in the SB Organics Factory in 2024, 17 were killed in August 2024 in Anakapalli in Andhra Pradesh, and two were killed in Parawada, Andhra Pradesh in June 2025.
Chukka Ramulu CPM Party State Excutive Mmeber together with district CPM leaders who organize Dharna against Sigachi Indutry and the government for the Collector Office in Sangareddy in Sangareddy District. | Photocredit: Mohd Arif
What are the implications for the sector?
Een Amerikaans investeringen en vastgoedbedrijf in haar rapport van april 2025 zei: “Telangana heeft een cruciale bijdrage geleverd aan het Indiase Life Sciences Landscape Landscape Accounting voor ongeveer een derde van de farmaceutische productie van het land, een vijfde van de farmaceutische export en een derde van de levensduur van de levensduur van de levensduur van de levensduur van de levensduur van de levensduur van de Lifespan of the lifetime of the lifetime of the lifetime in the past four years. More than 20 life sciences and medical technology -incubators are located in Hyderabad, which is the highest concentration in the country.
India, with Telangana as a hub, has emerged as a powerhouse in the pharmaceutical sector. But concern about safety and quality has chased smaller pharmaceutical companies. The US is one of the largest markets for Indian medical exports regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Pharmacopeia-National Formulary of the United States has a series of standards that regulate identity, strength, quality, purity and packaging and labeling by the production chain and use. To remain connected to this profitable market, the standards must be satisfactory.
Safety is one of the most important aspects of branding for the pharmaceutical industry that helps to build trust among customers. Every laxity in every aspect of drug processing has a step -by -step effect for the company and industry. At stake is not only the safety of one factory, but also the systems and workflow that are characteristics of stable and safe drug production. Two books, The Truth Pilo – The myth of drug regulation in India And Bottle lies: Ranbaxy and the Dark Side of Indian PharmaDineh S. Thakur and Prashant Reddy T. and Katherine Eban have described the regulatory leeway and the dangerous practices that have been taken by Indian pharmaceutical companies to keep the costs low and keep profit margins high.
What about the standards for pollution control?
The growth of the pharmaceutical industry of Hyderabad and Telangana has been helped by lax zoning plans and regulatory standards. Industrial areas must necessarily be away from residential areas. The Ida Pashamylaram was founded in the early 1980s with some of the largest pharmaceutical companies to the area, away from Balanagar and Patancheru that led the initial growth of industry in Hyderabad. The initially insulated industrial area is now surrounded by residential areas. In the absence of robust and reliable public transport, employee colonies have surfaced close to the factories and the industrial area. This influences the livelihood and health of people in the industrial cluster and the surrounding areas.
Environmental activists have documented how tons of toxic chemicals and effluents are released in the ground and in water bodies in the region. The Musi River remains very polluted with a study of 'pharmaceutical pollution of the rivers of the world that it places in the 22nd position worldwide in terms of concentration of active pharmaceutical ingredients. This high pollution is linked to poor infrastructure for waste water management and pharmaceutical production processes. The chemicals in the water are also linked to an increase in antimicrobial resistance.
What now?
The pharmaceutical sector has the potential to attract investments and to create high opportunities for employment in Hyderabad and other places in India. To use this potential, India has to set up a robust regulatory framework. The explosions and accidents are loud warning signals for the industry and the country.
Published – July 06, 2025 2:30 AM ISt
