The Andhra Pradesh police denied reports of a second leak from the LG Polymers plant in Visakhapatnam on Thursday night, even as several people were evacuated in a 5 km radius of the plant. The rumours were triggered after locals saw some vapours coming out of the factory. However, authorities said that this was not a cause for concern and that the gas was being neutralised.
"The police are working on evacuating people up to a 5km radius from the plant. Several people have started moving out on their own as well. Residents living up to 1 km radius were already evacuated in the morning. Ambulances are also ready in case of any emergency,” District Fire Officer Sandeep Anand told TNM.
He added that fire officers were also positioned at a distance for safety reasons and 10 fire tenders were also present in the area.
While District Fire officials initially claimed that there was a second leak from the factory in Gopalapatnam, the police denied the claim. Evacuation of people up to 5 km was taken as a precautionary measure, the authorities said.
Andhra’s Director General of Police Gautam Sawang told TNM that there were discussions regarding the boiler’s stability, and scientists from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) were present.
“They have also brought in coolants to neutralise temperatures in the boiler particularly effective against this chemical. The process is going on now. The leak’s smell is still hanging in the air. So, as a measure of abundant precaution, we have extended the perimeter of the evacuation because there was some discussion in the evening that the boiler’s temperature seems to be rising again, but that seems to be before this coolant material and the scientists who were flown in,” he said.
The gas leak that first started at around 2.30 am on Thursday claimed at least 11 lives, including two children, and around 350 people are in hospitals across the city. Among the dead were two children, aged six and nine, a first-year medical student and two people who died while fleeing the vapours from the plant.
At least 20 people on ventilator support. Besides, 246 people with health complications are undergoing treatment at Visakhapatnam's King George Hospital, police said.
Thousands of residents from Gopalapatnam have been evacuated to the nearby villages. About 800 people in ground zero, R R Venkatapuram village in Gopalapatnam, were evacuated and most needed only first aid.
About 22 domestic animals, including cows and buffaloes and their calves, were also killed in the incident, while some other animals are under treatment.
On Thursday evening, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan reached Visakhapatnam and held a review meeting on the gas leak with the district officials. He announced a compensation of Rs 1 crore for the families of those who lost their lives.
He said that those who are on ventilator support will receive a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each, and people who are hospitalised for a couple of days will receive Rs 25,000. People who received primary care and were sent back will receive a compensation of Rs 10,000, Jagan said.
The licence of the Visakhapatnam chemical plant may get revoked if it is found flouting environmental norms, an environment ministry official told PTI on Thursday.
An official said the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is investigating the matter and a report will be submitted soon. “If the plant is found flouting environment safety norms, we will cancel its licence. It is premature to say anything else right now," the official told PTI.
A preliminary report by the Factories Department indicated the leak was caused by a technical glitch in the refrigeration unit attached to the two styrene tanks, district officials said. As much as 1,800 tonnes of styrene is said to have been in the storage tank when the leakage happened.
According to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), what seems to be the case is that the plant management, in its haste to re-start the plant, ignored the protocol of doing maintenance of the plant before resuming operations. This, combined with the lack of proper storage of the gas – not maintained at the temperature required – and faulty fixtures could have resulted in the accident.
Styrene gas, used to make polystyrene plastics, fibreglass, rubber and latex, affects the central nervous system, throat, skin, eyes and some other parts of the body.
With PTI inputs
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