Another mishap in Vizag; no casualties reported this time

Two containers were gutted and two more were partially damaged in a fire caused in a container yard near the Visakhapatnam airport on Monday.

This is the fourth industrial mishap that took place in the port city of Vizag, in less than three months.

On May 7, styrene vapour leak from the LG Polymers unit near Gopalapatnam killed 15 locals. Benzimidazole leak in Sainor Life Sciences pharma unit in Parawada on June 30 caused death of two employees.

On July 14 night, a huge blast and fire in the Visakha Solvents Limited, Jawaharlal Nehru pharma city at Parawada near Vizag killed one operator and injured a chemist.

However, no casualties were reported from the container incident on Monday. The cause of the fire is said to be the friction of the crane with the containers loaded with chemicals. Fire tenders, who rushed to the spot, brought the situation under control.

However, the fresh incident, which caused heavy plumes of white vapor spread in the surrounding air, added to the fears of the already terrified locals especially in the industrial belt stretching from the NAD junction to Parawada.

Visakhapatnam, known popularly as Vizag, on the East Coast is heavily industrialised with steel plant, shipyard, refineries, pharma, and other manufacturing units.

The city was designated as Andhra Pradesh’s executive capital by chief minister Jaganmohan Reddy, a decision fiercely opposed by the TDP and its chief Chandrababu Naidu.