Tamil Nadu: Within 3 days, twin fire accidents hit Taiwanese and Japanese factories 

In thespan of three days, fire accidents have affected the Apple iPhone assembly unit run by Taiwanese firm Pegatron and the Japanese firm Yazaki that makes automobile wirings, both of which are situated nearly 60 kilometres from the southern Indian metropolis of Chennai. Located in Tamil Nadu's Chengalpattu district, the Pegatron and Yazaki facilities are situated a few kilometres apart from each other. In both cases, the blaze was reported at night and is said to have started from an electric short circuit. Of the two, the Yazaki fire appears to have caused more operational and financial damage.

The Yazaki factory fire began around 8:30pm Wednesday night and went on for two hours, before it was put out by multiple fire tenders. Videos from the site show the severe nature of the blaze and the extent to which the smoke was billowing from the factory. It is said that a shift was underway during the fire accident and all personnel managed to make it to safety in time.

The fire at Pegatron took place on Sunday night (on a day when the factory had its weekly holiday) and it was put out after a few hours. WION has learnt that as a result of the fire, Pegatron was forced to halt its iPhone assembly operations till Thursday.

Pegatron is expected to resume two of three assembly lines on a small scale, on Friday and resume production of the iPhone 14Plus models. However,it is unclear how long it would take to resume the production of the latest 15Plus model. In a statement, Pegatron had maintained that the firm did not face significant operational or financial effects from what they described as a "spark incident". The firm also added that there were no in injuries or casualties or damage to other assets. However, WION has learnt from Pegatron personnel that some high-tech equipment in the iPhone 15Plus assembly line had been damaged.

In Tamil Nadu, a state among the leading industrial powerhouses in India, such accidents taking place in such quick succession raisemany questions: Whether such industries are adequately equipped to deal with such mishaps;whether the relevant Government authorities perform inspections of the safety standards at these factories; whether the personnel and guards at these factories are adequately trained to immediately respond to such incidents, etc.

It is also pertinent to examine whether such factories, that supply to giant global corporations compromise on safety while operating in India.

Despite the serious nature of the two accidents and the concerns over the safety of thousands of personnel working there, the Tamil Nadu Government has not yet reacted or issued a statement publicly. The state government machinery is working towards organising a high-profile Global Investor meet in January 2024, to attract potential investors from around the world and achieve a $1 trillion state economy goal by 2030. Such frequent industrial accidents don't augur well for these ambitions and the immense potential of a state that ranks second in the State GDP list in India.

In December 2021, near Chennai, more than 150 workers at a Foxconn facility assembling iPhones had fallen ill owing to food poisoning, and they had protested poor facilities at their off-site dorm rooms and related dining facilities. This led to Apple placing the said factory on probation, the state government reacting to the matter and ensuring corrective actions. It was after audits and inspections that the factory resumed operations in January 2022.

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