Andhra Pradesh government has given Rs 1 crore ex-gratia to the kin of those deceased in the Vizag gas leak incident. The five villages affected by the styrene gas leak have been sanitised. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has instructed the officials to keep the state clean of such hazardous units
The remaining stock of the styrene gas is being sent back to South Korea. Normalcy is returning to the five most affected villages.
The Group of Ministers (GoM) today visited the houses of the deceased to hand over the cheques of Rs 1 crore and monitored the clean-up operation of the areas surrounding the plant.
The compensation for others, who had taken ill will be paid in the coming three days, the Group of Ministers said, after a video conference with CM Reddy.
Meanwhile, 13,000 tonnes of styrene gas are being sent back to South Korea. The civic staff has been sanitizing the entire area and creating awareness among the locals about the safety measures after the gas leak and how to dust away the residuals.
Speaking to the media during the distribution of compensation cheques, district in-charge minister K Kannababu said, “The incident occurred on May 7 and within four days of the mishap, we are providing compensation to the affected families. This is the true indication of the commitment of our chief minister, who has been constantly reviewing the situation with officials. Like never before by any state government, the chief minister announced Rs 1 crore ex-gratia to the kin of those who have lost their lives in the tragedy.”
Those who are in hospital for serious ailment would get Rs 10 lakh each and others, who are hospitalised, would receive Rs 1 lakh each as compensation. Also, all the families residing in the affected villages are to be compensated with Rs 10,000 each. The entire cost of hospitalisation will be borne by the government.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh minister Botsa Satyanarayana said the state government is taking up all the required measures to normalise the situation in the affected five villages, where the sanitisation works are underway.
“All the public spaces including the open drains, sewage canals are being cleaned and sanitised. We are also going to provide sanitation liquids to the households for indoor cleaning purposes. Currently, the emission levels have been nullified and by Monday evening and people are returning homes,” Satyanarayana said.
The LG Polymers plant, where gas leak incident took place, was granted permission for expansion in 2017, during TDP rule. The decision by then N Chandrababu Naidu government had led controversy with some people raising concerns about expansion being allowed in an area neighbouring a residential colony.
In 2018, another expansion was allowed. The company got the permission for expansion and development activities over next five years. The gas leak occurred after two phases of lockdown, when some relaxations were given for resuming work.
The state government has appointed a high-powered committee to probe the styrene gas leak incident. The government has said stringent action will be taken against those found responsible for the incident.
The government has also instructed the officials to shift the styrene tanks to the city outskirts and conduct inspections in all such industries. A statewide drive would be taken up to identify such hazardous units across the state.
Ministers K Kanna Babu, Botsa Satyanarayana, Avanti Srinivas, Dharmana Krishna Das, Chief Secretary Neelam Sawhney, DGP Goutham Sawang, Vizag District Collector, Vinaychand participated in the video conference.