A leak of chemical vapour from LG Polymers on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam on Thursday killed 11 people and hospitalised over 350 who inhaled the toxic substance.
The incident took place in the wee hours when most of the residents in the surrounding villages were asleep.
People in the state woke up to shocking visuals on TVs of men, women and children lying unconscious along roadsides. At least two locals died as they fell into ditches while trying to run away in the dark.
The styrene monomer vapours from the plant owned by the South Korean industrial giant caused severe burning in the eyes, nostrils and throats, knocking unconscious dozens who were exposed to it in proximity.
According to Vinay Chand, Visakhapatnam Collector, the disaster occurred at 3:45 am on Thursday due to safety standards failure.
“The leakage was from a 2,500-mt tank of styrene monomer and the vapours spread in the surrounding areas. Venkatapuram village is the worst affected, with styrene concentration in the air high till 5.45 am,” he said.
The gases also caused the death of 22 cattle and six dogs.
Thousands of residents from the four villages close to the factory were evacuated. Doors of several houses had to be broken open to evacuate those sleeping inside. About 350 people were hospitalised, the CMO said.
Andhra Pradesh police have reportedly booked cases on the LG Polymers management under various IPC sections like 304, 337, 338 at the Gopalapatnam Police Station.
“The concentration of the chemical in the air will wither in a couple of days. Till then, the evacuees sheltered at various places in the city will not be allowed back into the villages,” officials said.
Poorna Chandra Mohan Rao, director-operations, LG Chem, pointed at the lockdown for the mishap.
“Not to put the blame on anyone, but the lockdown has become a bane for our industry. The styrene monomer has to be in continuous movement. We were maintaining refrigeration below 20 degrees, with 15 operating staff. But unfortunately, in one tank, the temperature in the upper part was higher and vapours thus formed stuck to the tank’s roof creating polymers which dropped into the liquid monomer below causing auto-polymerisation (causing vapour concentration and leakage).”
“We are fighting the leakage using inhibitors (in the 2,500-tonne tank) with 1,800 tonnes of styrene monomer. We will give clearance for villager’s return once the danger fully subsides,” the LG official said.
Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy visited Vizag and met the victims undergoing treatment at the King George Hospital.
Reddy announced a compensation of Rs 1 crore for each of the families which suffered loss of life. An ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh will be given to those treated with ventilator support and Rs 1 lakh to those who are hospitalised for two or more days. Those given primary treatment will get Rs 25,000. Livestock loss will also be compensated, and Rs 10,000 each will be given to those living in the most affected areas, the chief minister said. A job to one family member will also be looked into.
“Unfortunate that such a disaster happened at a globally reputed company. Not even an alarm was sounded by the company officials (to warn the public around),” Reddy said.
The CM also announced a high-level committee headed by Special Chief Secretary of Environment and Forests, industries and pollution control board secretaries and collector and police commissioner of Visakhapatnam district to probe the incident and recommend measures to avoid such incidents in the future.
Reddy also indicated that the LG Polymers unit might have to shift away from the area surrounded by large human habitations, based on the committee’s findings.
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kishan Reddy said LG Polymers India Pvt Ltd has requested for airlifting of 500 kg of a chemical 4-Tertiary Butylcatechol (PTBC) from Daman airport to Visakhapatnam to be used in avoiding any further unforeseen reaction due to the leakage of styrene gas.
He added that the chemical has been dispatched to Vizag along with handling experts from NDRF’s Pune unit.
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