<p>A week after the styrene leak, villagers around the LG Chem unit near Visakhapatnam, are still suffering the after-effects of the toxic vapour.</p>.<p>The mishap in the wee hours of May 7 had claimed 12 lives, while 585 locals were admitted to various hospitals in the city. About 15,000 population of five surrounding villages had to be evacuated as the white fumes from the faulty tank distressed the officials and locals alike.</p>.<p>The chilling TV visuals of men, women and children collapsed to the ground reminded of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, though the poisonous effect on Vizag was far lesser in comparison.</p>.<p>On Wednesday (May 13), two ladies – reportedly a village level official Sathya Tulasi and a homemaker Karanam Jyothi - in the worst affected RR Venkatapuram where the polymers factory is located, fainted, and were hospitalized after inhaling the residual gas.</p>.<p>“It was because they entered rooms, toilets where the gas was still accumulated. They are stable now,” Dr. Tirupati Rao, Visakhapatnam district medical and health officer told DH.</p>.<p>According to Rao, all the affected admitted to private hospitals were already discharged, while about 25 under treatment at the King George Hospital would also be sent home by Thursday night.</p>.<p>After sanitization of the premises by the Vizag civic body, the evacuated locals started coming back on Monday to dried-up vegetation, a stench wafting in the air, and a list of precautions like avoiding local yields, dairy produce. To reassure the locals, four Andhra Pradesh ministers and senior officials slept in the villages for a night, while the state provided food, other necessities.</p>.<p>Some in the hospital still complain of nausea, mouth abscesses, numbness in limbs, etc.</p>.<p>“These are all temporary effects which will subside. A committee of health experts is constituted to prescribe the mid to long term medical attention needed for the vapor exposed people. Added to the monthly health check-up for a year, a thorough examination including blood, etc., tests would be carried on people here every three months,” Dr Rao said. </p>.<p>Meanwhile, a team of production, environment, and safety experts from Seoul arrived in Vizag on Wednesday to find the cause of the mishap and assure the locals of safety and rehabilitation.</p>.<p>At the insistence of the Jaganmohan Reddy government, LG Chem is moving the 13,000 tonnes of stocked styrene to South Korea.</p>.<p>“We confirm the status-quo of the plant remains completely controlled by all measures. We have begun the transportation of the Styrene Monomer inventory within the plant as well as in the styrene tanks at the port by vessels to South Korea to prevent and eliminate all risk factors,” an LG statement said.</p>
<p>A week after the styrene leak, villagers around the LG Chem unit near Visakhapatnam, are still suffering the after-effects of the toxic vapour.</p>.<p>The mishap in the wee hours of May 7 had claimed 12 lives, while 585 locals were admitted to various hospitals in the city. About 15,000 population of five surrounding villages had to be evacuated as the white fumes from the faulty tank distressed the officials and locals alike.</p>.<p>The chilling TV visuals of men, women and children collapsed to the ground reminded of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, though the poisonous effect on Vizag was far lesser in comparison.</p>.<p>On Wednesday (May 13), two ladies – reportedly a village level official Sathya Tulasi and a homemaker Karanam Jyothi - in the worst affected RR Venkatapuram where the polymers factory is located, fainted, and were hospitalized after inhaling the residual gas.</p>.<p>“It was because they entered rooms, toilets where the gas was still accumulated. They are stable now,” Dr. Tirupati Rao, Visakhapatnam district medical and health officer told DH.</p>.<p>According to Rao, all the affected admitted to private hospitals were already discharged, while about 25 under treatment at the King George Hospital would also be sent home by Thursday night.</p>.<p>After sanitization of the premises by the Vizag civic body, the evacuated locals started coming back on Monday to dried-up vegetation, a stench wafting in the air, and a list of precautions like avoiding local yields, dairy produce. To reassure the locals, four Andhra Pradesh ministers and senior officials slept in the villages for a night, while the state provided food, other necessities.</p>.<p>Some in the hospital still complain of nausea, mouth abscesses, numbness in limbs, etc.</p>.<p>“These are all temporary effects which will subside. A committee of health experts is constituted to prescribe the mid to long term medical attention needed for the vapor exposed people. Added to the monthly health check-up for a year, a thorough examination including blood, etc., tests would be carried on people here every three months,” Dr Rao said. </p>.<p>Meanwhile, a team of production, environment, and safety experts from Seoul arrived in Vizag on Wednesday to find the cause of the mishap and assure the locals of safety and rehabilitation.</p>.<p>At the insistence of the Jaganmohan Reddy government, LG Chem is moving the 13,000 tonnes of stocked styrene to South Korea.</p>.<p>“We confirm the status-quo of the plant remains completely controlled by all measures. We have begun the transportation of the Styrene Monomer inventory within the plant as well as in the styrene tanks at the port by vessels to South Korea to prevent and eliminate all risk factors,” an LG statement said.</p>
