Municipal Commissioner Raj Gopal is learnt to have asked Health Officer P P Rathod to furnish details of all the existing bottling plants in Rajkot to see how many were operating in safe conditions. ``If it is proved that the blast was caused in the bottling plant, I will ensure all of them operating under such conditions are closed or are shifted outside residential areas,'' Raj Gopal told Express Newsline.

``Officially, the Rajkot Municipal Corporation has given licences to only 18 bottling plants in the city. The rest are unauthorisied and operating illegally,'' one official told Express Newsline.

Inquiries revealed that the Jhalas, in whose house the blast occurred, were bottling soda and selling it through a `larriwala' at Kishanpara Chowk. These plants are believed to have mushroomed following the growth of the local soda and unbranded soft drinks industry in Rajkot. To keep up with the boom, and in the absence of any supervision or control, people began setting up such plants in their homes, said sources.