New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has slapped an interim penalty of Rs 5 crore on NLC India Ltd in connection with a boiler blast at the Neyveli Thermal Power Station, a power plant situated next to lignite mines, in Tamil Nadu in which 13 workers died and 10 were injured on July 1. That was the second boiler explosion to take place at the plant in two months.A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said that independent verification of facts in the incident is necessary and the industrial unit is liable to pay interim compensation on the principle of ‘absolute liability’.Also read: TN: 6 Killed, 17 Hurt in Boiler Explosion at Neyveli Thermal Plant; Second Blast in 2 MonthsIn the order passed on Wednesday, the tribunal said that an interim compensation of Rs 30 lakh is to be paid to the heir of each deceased pending final assessment.Apart from compensating the heirs of the deceased, the injured also have to be compensated. We determine interim compensation for seven injured, who have already been in the hospital for about a week, to be Rs 5 lakh each, the bench said.The tribunal said that for those discharged, interim compensation is held to be Rs 1 lakh each.The industrial unit may deposit the penalty of Rs 5 crore with the district magistrate in Cuddalore within two weeks to meet a claim for compensation as ad hoc arrangement, it said.The amount of interim compensation may be disbursed by transfer to the bank accounts of the heirs of the deceased and the injured, the tribunal said.The NGT also constituted an independent committee comprising of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, the district magistrate of Cuddalore, the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and IIT Chennai to visit the site and ascertain facts taking into account the version of the industrial unit and other stakeholders.The report may be given within three months by email. A copy of the report will be uploaded on the CPCB website for comments from any affected party, the bench said.Also read: Neyveli: Eight Workers Injured in Boiler Explosion at NLC Thermal PlantTamil Nadu pollution control board filed a report mentioning that the industry has seven boiler units to produce electric power of 1,470 MW. The mishap occurred at the fifth unit of Thermal Power Station-II when workers were in the process of resuming operations on July 1.It was reported by officials of NLC India Ltd that the cleaning of lignite dust deposition inside the horizontal box girder might have been done with the help of metal scrappers and due to friction, the lignite particles got ignited and due to combustion within the girder, the workers who were inside might have suffered and suffocated.(With PTI inputs)