Panaji, Aug 31 (IANS) Zuari Industries limited (ZIL), a K.K. Birla group company in Goa, has been temporarily shut due to a shortage of naphtha, a raw material needed to manufacture agricultural fertilisers, a company spokesperson said Wednesday.

The temporary shutdown follows a major accident last week in which leaked naphtha caused a major fire in the port town of Vasco, 30 km from here, resulting in the death of three people trapped in the fire.

‘We had to take the decision as there is no supply of naphtha,’ ZIL spokesperson Anand Rajadhyaksha said.

ZIL has an annual turnover of over Rs.2,000 crore and manufactures fertilisers and agricultural inputs.

Goa’s disaster management authority (DMA) had ordered the closure of the pipeline ferrying naphtha from the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) to ZIL after the accident, which happened when leaked gas came in contact with high tension power cables passing overhead.