Just weeks after the styrene gas leak at the LG Polymers factory, Visakhapatnam witnessed another incident of toxic gas leak. This time benzimidazole gas leaked from a pharmaceutical company, Sainor Life Sciences, which killed two persons and critically injured four others, according to various media reports.

The incident took place in the wee hours of Tuesday at the Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City (JNPC), Parawada, at the pharmaceutical company when over 30 people were at work. The Times of India reported that a total of six workers collapsed after inhaling the gas. While the exact cause of leakage is yet to be ascertained, officials suspect that the leak might have taken place due to technical reasons. District Collector V Vinay who visited Sainor Life Sciences to inspect the matter allegedly told CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy that the incident was confined to a section of the factory and the leakage was reported from a reactor. It was also informed that the unit had been shut down as a precautionary measure, TOI reported.

Two died and four injured in a #gasleak in #Sainor life Sciences in #PharmaCity #Visakhapatnam. Situation brought under control and collector ordered an enquiry @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/goOHtJ9r5n

— TNIE Andhra Pradesh (@xpressandhra) June 30, 2020

A report by Economic Times said that the four injured had been kept on ventilator at the hospital and the police had also registered a case against the company’s management. It was also reported that this was the second incident of gas leakage at the Parawada factory of Sainor Life Sciences in the last three years where an earlier reactor blast had killed two and injured five people.

It was also alleged that Sainor Life Sciences hadn’t yet had the consent to re-open in a red zone, but workers were still present at the factory.

So. It looks like Sainor Life Sciences didn’t yet have consent to re-open in a red zone? But at least 30-35 workers were in the factory at the time of the accident, according to the Express story. https://t.co/qxciI7gOGw pic.twitter.com/sApdbtNnT4

— Aruna Chandrasekhar (@aruna_sekhar) June 30, 2020

According to the Department of Industries, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh, the company had applied for a ‘consent for establishment red category’ on June 15, 2020 and the permissible date of approval would be July 14, 2020. The application was still at the concerned department waiting to be approved and even then the factory became operational.

Economic Times had reported that the Environment Ministry had in March amended the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification to expedite the environmental clearance for API-related projects saying that companies would get approvals at the state levels itself.

Series of gas leaks

This is the third incident of gas leakage in the state during the lockdown. The first was the styrene gas leak at LG Polymers which killed 11 and left over 1,000 ill after they inhaled the fumes of the gas. Just two days ago, at least 1 worker died and three others were admitted to the hospital after an ammonia gas leak incident at SPY Agro industries in the state’s Kurnool district.

On June 3, a mysterious explosion took place in Yashashvi Rasayan Private Ltd (YRPL) chemical factory at Dahej in Bharuch, Gujarat. Reportedly, the blast was caused due to a reaction between two containers on account of some chemical process. The blast has led to deaths of 10 persons.

The National Green Tribunal had taken cognizance of the gas leak at LG Polymers and imposed an interim penalty of Rs. 50 crore which it directed should be spent on compensation to the victims and restoration of the environment.

Taking cognizance of the leak at the Dahej chemical factory, it had directed the owners to make an interim deposit of Rs. 25 crore as penalty, minus the statutory compensation/ex gratia payments already made to the victims, if any, with the District Magistrate. Holding the company liable for the loss caused due to the blast, NGT asked to pay Rs 15 lakh to family members of each deceased, Rs 5 lakh each to those grievously injured, Rs 2.5 lakh each to the injured, and Rs 25,000 each to those displaced from their homes due to the incident.

Meanwhile, a similar incident has also taken place in Assam where Oil India Limited (OIL) reported a blowout during workover operations at the Baghjan oil well leading to an uncontrolled release of natural gas which has yet not been controlled. The well also caught fire on June 9, which has yet not been doused. The incident took the life of OIL’s two firefighters and it was revealed the company had subverted laws and extended its drilling and testing to seven new locations at the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, bypassing the rule for public hearings to be undertaken for operations inside protected forests. Taking cognizance of the matter NGT had imposed an interim penalty of Rs. 25 crore on the company.  

Related:

The price of profit, OIL’s misadventure threatens Tinsukhia’s reserve forests & wild life sanctuaries: Assam

LG Polymers India has Absolute Liability: NGT on Vizag Gas Leak

Management Irresponsibility plus weak monitoring by MoEF&CC: Committee, Vizag gas leak

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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on May 8, took suo moto cognizance of the styrene gas leak that occurred on May 7 in Vizag’s LG Polymers plant located in R.R. Venkatpuram village. The gas leak claimed more than 10 lives and affected over 1000 persons in the vicinity. The NGT bench headed by Chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel with two other members, Justice SK Singh and Dr. Nagin Nanda, identified the damage this may have caused to the environment and habitat and imposed strict liability of the incident on LG Polymers.

The order dated May 8 of the Tribunal constituted a 6 member committee headed by Justice B. Seshasayana Reddy, former judge of Andhra Pradesh High Court and further comprising of V Rama Chandra Murthy, Former Vice Chancellor, Andhra University; Pulipati King, Head of Chemical Engineering Department, Andhra University; Member Secretary, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB); Director, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology and Head of National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Vizag.

The Committee’s findings are a sharp indictment on the management as also the statutory monitoring mechanisms. Specifically, the Committee recommends that Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) along with CPCB and states PCBs need to revamp monitoring mechanisms and need to prioritise the projects where potential environmental degradation is high on account of nature of activity as well as area being ecologically sensitive. Monitoring must be twice a year and not once in four-five years. Inadequate compliance mechanisms defeat environmental principle of sustainable development says the Committee in its findings.

The District magistrate, Vishakhapatnam, and Regional Office, Andhra Pradesh State Pollution Control Board (PCB) were directed to provide logistical support to the Committee to enable their fact-finding and reporting. The Committee was directed to specifically report on the following:

a. The sequence of events;

b. Causes of failure and persons and authorities responsible therefor;

c. Extent of damage to life, human and non-human; public health; and environment – including, water, soil, air;

d. Steps to be taken for compensation of victims and restitution of the damaged property and environment, and the cost involved;

e. Remedial measures to prevent recurrence

f. Any other incidental or allied issues found relevant.

The committee, filed an interim report on May 17 in which it opined that, “the Company did not take proper care of the storage tank resulting in auto polymerization of styrene releasing excess heat which escaped from the goose-neck and dip hatch in the form of vapour. It is also mentioned that the unit was operating without the requisite EC. The State Pollution Control Board (PCB) had no clarity in the matter while granting the statutory consents without EC.”

The Committee observed that there is rampant violation of Environmental Clearance (EC) conditions and that in absence of adequate mechanisms such violations are bound to continue defeating the environmental principle of precautionary and sustainable development. The Committee further noted the observations of Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Environmental Clearance and Post Clearance Monitoring 2016 in which reasons for shortfalls in monitoring of environmental parameters were attributed to inadequate staff, inadequate database, not assigning clear responsibility for post EC monitoring, absence of monitoring at regular intervals particularly for critically polluted areas.

Cause of incident

Further, the report stated that the Committee was of the view that the leakage was cause due to the following reasons:

1. Insufficient Tertiary Butyl Catechol (IBC, used as inhibitor to ureic/polymerization at lower temperatures) concentration in styrene tank due to unavailability of IBC in the plant.

2. There is no monitoring system for dissolved oxygen in the vapour space which might have fallen down below 6%.

3. The tank has no provision of monitoring temperatures at lop layers of the storage.

4. Refrigeration system was not being operated fir 24 hours.

5. Gross human failure and negligence of the Person in-charge of the plant and maintenance personnel of the storage tanks.

Cause of failures on part of LG Polymers

The report also narrates the shockingly irresponsible decision of the management of the industrial unit which, after being closed on March 24 due to the nationwide lockdown, decided to resume operations on May 7, without due precautions being taken (“Causes of failures and authorities responsible thereof”. The leakage started in early hours of May 7.

The Committee pointed out step by step, how the leakage was caused due to chemical reactions in the tank and established the liability of the industry, which is reflected in the following points, which are extracts from the report:

The leaked tank does not have any provision for measuring the vapour space temperature. Due to this, building-up of temperatures in top surface could not noticed by the industry. This reflects the clear cut case of negligence on Industry part.

The unit’s inability to access personnel protective equipment in a timely manner, safety response preparedness of the site had impact in the early stages of safety operations.

The public siren system also could not be activated as it was manual and in an area rendered inaccessible by the vapour cloud else people in surrounding areas could have been alerted quickly and lives saved.

Mitigation of the impact could have been more effective had the chillers servicing Tank M6 been running.

There was also no automated sprinkler arrangement for vapour loss as this had never been anticipated; the fire water sprinklers had to be manually activated.

With the experience world over of Styrene, it takes considerable amount of idle time to have polymerization inside tank if effective inhibition and chilling is maintained. The unit failed to assess this situation due lack in handling experience by trained man-power

The report concluded that the root cause of the leakage to be lack of experience of LG Polymers India and their Korean principal. LG Chem, in monitoring and maintaining full tanks of styrene that were idled for a long period of several weeks without operation.

Further, the Committee also pointed out the “accountability for lapses on part of the Industry (LG Polymers), which rest with Managing Director of the unit, Certified Safety Officer, Safety Department, and Production Department. The role of issuing necessary safety certificate to the industry, the periodic inspections is the primary responsibility of Department of Industries, Factories and Boilers.”

Recommendations

It is Statutory Bodies that need to follow due dillgence. Have they ? NEERI has been asked to conduct an inquiry to calculate the actual cost for environmental damage and restoration so the same may be recovered from the industry. Further the Committee also suggested that the government, apart from the Rs. 1 crore compensation announced for the families of the deceased, should also compensate victims on ventilator support with Rs. 10 lakhs, and victims hospitalized but not on life-support with Rs. 1 lakh each and this will be in addition to the entire expenses of their hospitalization, critical care and recovery, which will be borne by the government.

The report further gave a long comprehensive list of recommendations for remedial measures to avoid recurrence which included hazard identification and evaluation in the community, Preparation of Guiding Principles for Accident Prevention, Preparedness and Response for onsite and offsite emergency plans, detailed study of the risk assessment and disaster management studies and so on.

Further the Committee also conducted a public consultation meeting with NGOs and residents of affected villages and the some pertinent suggestions were also incorporated in the report. Some of these suggestions include:

• Compensation to be paid by both company and government
• Company to conduct local public awareness campaigns about Do’s/ Don’ts during emergency
• Material auditing, safety inspection reports shall be made online for public
• All the affected families should be given identity cards and Health cards by the Government and the expenditure on medical bills shall be borne by the unit.
• The L.G. Polymers company management should be prosecuted under relevant sections Cr.P.C.
• All companies should have Public Addressing system, so that the public can be warned during the Disaster
• All factories should have mitigation plans for gas leakage solvent fire and should have emergency ward with medical staff for treatment

Responsibility of Ministry and government agencies

The report also highlights how the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) along with CPCB and states PCBs need to revamp monitoring mechanisms and need to prioritise the projects where potential environmental degradation is high on account of nature of activity as well as area being ecologically sensitive; whereby monitoring will have to be more intensive and at higher frequency. The Committee stated that the present scenario of monitoring once in 4.5 years and planned modification resulting in monitoring in 2.5 years is farce and does not meet the requirement   of law by any standards.

The Committee also stated in the report that MoEF&CC even failed tomention the percentage of compliance since there is no such data available with them. The Committee viewed these remedial actions as inalienable constitutional obligations. The report stressed upon, over and over against, on the importance of strong compliance mechanisms for EC which is a precautionary principle in tandem with right to life under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. “We place on record our disapproval for the present sorry state-of-affairs and expect meaningful improvement,” said the report. The Committee recommended that all Category A projects be monitored at least twice a year and the rest be monitored at least once a year.

The observations of the Bench

On the hearing held on June 1, the bench took this report on record and observed that the company operated without Environmental Clearance (EC) and the State PCB on account of its ignorance of law or otherwise gave ‘Consent to Establish’ and ‘Consent to Operate’ in violation of law. It further observed that burden of proof is on the company to show that it has no liability, since overwhelming material point towards its liability.

While stressing on remedial measures, the bench took the view that there is need for rehabilitation plan utilizing the interim and further compensation and “regulatory framework needs to be reviewed and strengthened, apart from identifying steps to ensure compliance of laid down safety norms and laying down further norms and procedure to avoid recurrence of such failures in future”.

The bench gave further directions as follows:

• The amount of Rs. 50 crores deposited by the Company with the District Magistrate, Vishakhapatnam will stand appropriated towards part liability and interim compensation to be spent for restoration of the environment and compensation for victims in accordance with the restoration plan to be prepared.
• Restoration plan may be prepared by a Committee comprising two representatives each of MoEF&CC, CPCB and three representatives of State Government to be named by the Chief Secretary within two months from today
• Final compensation to be assessed by Committee comprising representatives of MoEF&CC, CPCB and NEERI, which shall be constituted within 2 weeks and it shall give its report within 2 months.
• The Chief Secretary, Andhra Pradesh may identify and take appropriate action against persons responsible for failure of law in permitting the Company to operate without statutory clearances within two months and give a report to this Tribunal
• If the Company decides to recommence operations, the same shall be brought to the notice of the Tribunal
• The MoEF&CC may also constitute an Expert Committee to suggest ways and means to revamp monitoring mechanism to check and prevent violation of environmental norms and preventing any such recurrence in future in any of the establishments dealing with hazardous chemicals; an Action Taken Report to be submitted in this regard within 3 months.

The next hearing in the case is now on November 3.

The complete order can be read here.

Related:

Vizag gas leak: High Powered Committee meets stakeholders, begins probe
LG Polymers India has Absolute Liability: NGT on Vizag Gas Leak
NGT imposes 25 crore interim penalty in Dahej chemical factory blast incident: Gujarat
The price of profit, OIL’s misadventure threatens Tinsukhia’s reserve forests & wild life sanctuaries: Assam

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New Delhi: PTI reports that the South Korean company LG Polymers India has “absolute liability” for the loss of life and public health in the gas leak incident at its plant in Visakhapatnam, as held by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on June 3. An interim penalty of Rs 50 crore should be spent on compensation to the victims and the restoration of the environment, .the NGT has also directed.

Besides, the NGT order states that a restoration plan be prepared by a committee comprising two representatives each of the Environment Ministry and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and three representatives of Andhra Pradesh government. Discarding the company’s plea seeking review of its May 8 order slapping on it the Rs 50 crore interim penalty, the NGT said that that it is justified in taking suo motu cognisance of the matter.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said that final calculation of compensation could be assessed by a committee comprising representatives of the Ministry of Environment Ministry (MoE), CPCB and National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI).

“The committee will be at liberty to associate/co-opt any other expert institution or individual. The Secretary, MoEF may ensure the constitution of such committee within two weeks… The Committee may give its report within two months thereafter,” the bench, also comprising of Justice Sheo Kumar Singh, said. The Tribunal also directed the Andhra Pradesh chief secretary to identify and take appropriate action against the people responsible for the failure of law in permitting the company to operate without statutory clearances within two months and give a report.

 “In view of the stand of the state pollution control board and the company that it will not recommence its operation without requisite statutory clearances, we direct that if any such statutory clearances are granted and the Company proposes to recommence, this aspect must be brought to the notice of this tribunal so that compliance of law is ensured,” the bench said in its June 1 order uploaded today.

The NGT asked MoEF to constitute an expert committee to suggest ways and means to revamp monitoring mechanism to check and prevent violation of environmental norms and preventing any such recurrence in future in any of the establishments dealing with hazardous chemicals.

“A special drive may be initiated in this regard. An action taken report may be furnished within three months. This order will not prejudice any criminal or other statutory proceedings in accordance with the law,” the bench said.

Further, the NGT said that the safety of citizens and environment is of prime concern and any economic or industrial activity, however necessary, has to be consistent with the safety of human beings and the environment. “The damage to human life, human health and environment has to be restored by applying the ‘Sustainable Development’ principle, of which ‘Precautionary’ and ‘Polluter Pays’ principles are part,” the bench said.

On May 8 the NGT had sought a response from the Centre and others saying ‘there appears to be a failure to comply with the said Rules and other statutory provisions’. It had set up a five-member Committee to probe gas leak incident in the chemical factory, in which at least 11 people were killed and 1,000 exposed.

The matter was taken up suo-motu (on its own) by NGT on the basis of media reports to the effect that leakage of hazardous gas, Styrene, took place on May 7 from a chemical factory owned by the South Korean company LG Polymers India Pvt Ltd, R.R. Venkatpuram village, Pendurthy Mandal, Vishakhapatnam resulting in the death of 11 people.

A major early morning chemical leak from a polymer plant near Visakhapatnam impacted villages in a five-km radius, leaving many people dead and scores of citizens suffering from breathlessness and other problems, as the AP government ordered a probe into the issue.

The leak was noticed by company staff who were reportedly inspecting machines to restart the factory and raised an alarm.

Hours after the styrene gas leak from the multinational L G Polymers Plant at R R Venkatapuram village near here, scores of people could be seen lying unconscious on sidewalks, near ditches and on the road, raising fears of a major industrial disaster.

NGT order

Related:

1. Vizag gas leak FIR doesn’t mention Styrene’, company personnel

2. Visakhapatnam Gas leak: National Green Tribunal orders LG Polymers India to deposit ₹50 crore for damage caused

The post LG Polymers India has Absolute Liability: NGT on Vizag Gas Leak appeared first on SabrangIndia.

After over eleven persons were killed due to Styrene gas leaking from the LG Polymers factory at Visakhapatnam in the early hours of May 7, the Andhra Pradesh government set up a high-level probe committee to investigate the matter, however, the FIR on the gas leak registered at the Gopalapatnam police station by the local police is almost questionable, The Indian Express reported.

The FIR was registered under Sections 278 (Making atmosphere noxious to health); 284 (Negligent conduct with respect to poisonous substance), 285 (any act with combustible matter to endanger life), 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (Causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 304-II (Knowledge that the act had likelihood of causing death) of IPC.

Yet, filed almost five hours after the incident, at 7 AM on May 7, all the FIR states is that “some smoke came out” of the factory, that there was a “bad smell” and it was this smell that endangered life. “At about 0330 hrs some smoke came out from the LG Polymers Company, due to the reason the neighbouring villages (were) affected and getting bad smell and the smell is endanger to human life. Due to fear, all villagers ran…from the houses. In the incident, 5 persons died and the remaining people were admitted in hospitals as in-patients.” Incidentally, the death toll mentioned here is five when 10 had already been confirmed dead by the time the FIR was filed.

Despite the fact that police officials had confirmed the presence of this gas, the FIR did not mention Styrene in the FIR. No official from the company was named in the complaint too. This, even when the Joint Chief Inspector of Factories, Visakhapatnam, J Siva Sankar Reddy told IE that the “responsibility of reopening the factory safely” after the lockdown was that of General Manager and Director of Operations, LG Polymers, P P Chandra Mohan Rao.

“But he was not present in the factory on the intervening night of May 6-7 when it was decided to restart operations,” he said.

Eight-member team arrives

An eight-member technical team from the Seoul headquarters of LG Chem in South Korea led by the President of the company, arrived at the LG Polymers plant at RR Venkatapuram on Wednesday. The team comprising of experts from production, environment and safety will work closely with district authorities to investigate the cause of the incident and support rehabilitation measures. The team will also meet the families of the deceased and other affected families to explain the support measures in detail.

Studies of the extent of the impact of vapours on people in affected villages are still going on. Speaking to The New Indian Express, Prof S Bala Prasad, a noted environmental expert and Chairman of the committee constituted by the State government to study the gas lead impact at LG Polymers, said, that the study will be completed in five days, after which the concentration levels and the duration of time people inhaled the vapours at different times in different villages would be ascertained.

Meanwhile industrial accidents continue across the country.

Nitrogen gas leak at Bokaro Steel Plant

After the gas leak at LG Polymers in Vizag, came the news of a nitrogen gas leak at the Bokaro Steel Plant which took place from a transformer at the hot strip mill on Monday evening. At least three people, including a deputy general manager (DGM) fainted after inhaling the nitrogen gas, reported the The Telegraph.

Bokaro Steel Plant chief communication officer (CCO) Manikant Dhan said that the incident occurred when one of their senior officials from the distribution network department and two workers were inspecting a new transformer adjacent to the hot strip mill department, the wing where steel sheets are made.

The cause of the leak that took place on Monday, May 11, at 7:30 PM, has not been ascertained yet said officials. Dhan said, “Since the inquiry committee report is pending, we are unable to ascertain the cause leading to the exposure to this gas. DGM V. Narayan and the two other employees were admitted to Bokaro General Hospital (some 150km from Ranchi), where they are stable. They will be released soon after the observation period is over in the hospital.” However, he signalled that negligence during the installation of the transformer in the hot strip could have been a reason behind the leak.

Telangana’s biodiesel reactor explosion kills 2, injures 1

Two workers were killed and another one injured when a reactor in a biodiesel plant exploded while they were undertaking repair work in Telangana’s Sangareddy district on Wednesday morning, the police said. The incident took place at Khanda Biofuels, a biodiesel plant in Arjun Naik Thankda of Zaheerabad block in the district, when the workers were involved in welding work on the roof of the fuel reactor. The plant was getting ready to reopen after lockdown.

The victims were identified as Md Ghouse (35) and Md Saber (33). Another worker Krishna Reddy, who sustained injuries, has been admitted to the Sangareddy government hospital, The Hindustan Times reported.

The management has agreed to pay a compensation of Rs 15 lakh each to the families of the deceased.

Related:

Vizag gas leak: High Powered Committee meets stakeholders, begins probe

Visakhapatnam Gas leak: National Green Tribunal orders LG Polymers India to deposit ₹50 crore for damage caused

The post Vizag gas leak FIR doesn’t mention Styrene’, company personnel appeared first on SabrangIndia.

After responses from various stakeholders regarding the Vizag gas leak came in, the High Powered Committee (HPC) constituted to probe the cause behind the LG Polymers gas leak which claimed 12 lives, said it will have an interaction with the affected groups in the next few days, The New Indian Express reported.

The HPC was constituted by the government on May 8 and was headed by Special Chief Secretary (Environment and Forests) Neerabh Kumar Prasad and four other members including Special Chief Secretary (Industries & Commerce Department) R Karikal Valaven, Visakhapatnam District Collector Vinay Chand and Visakhapatnam City Police Commissioner RK Meena as members and AP Pollution Control Board member-secretary Vivek Yadav as the member-convener to probe the reasons for the mishap which killed 12 persons.

The committee till now held discussions with Director, Indian Institute of Petroleum, Visakhapatnam and several others. It also visited the site of the mishap and closely examined the industry premises along with the Director, IIP, Dehradun and industry experts. The HPC also conducted a detailed examination at the storage tank site, control room and factory premises.

On Monday, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the health teams who were involved in relief operations there and also three environmental and scientific experts in the field were asked to give their views to the HPC.

The State government has also deployed four teams to inspect safety norms in all the 20 hazardous industries in the Visakhapatnam district. Speaking to TNIE, HPC member R Karikal Valaven said that the team comprising officials from industries, factories, boilers and pollution control board and two professors (experts) would inspect five hazardous industries each. “Starting Monday, each team would inspect five industries and submit a report to the government on Thursday. On Friday, we will go through the reports and take a decision,” he added. 

The Andhra Pradesh government has granted a compensation of Rs. 1 crore to the kin of eight out of the twelve deceased in the incident.

Still not out of danger

Experts said that had the violation of safety norms at the LG Polymers factory gone unnoticed for a few more days, a catastrophe would be inevitable. Deccan Chronicle reported that experts found that there were other storage facilities at the factory that were vulnerable to a leak of vapour on a larger scale.

Two of the experts deputed by the Centre had certified that styrene was stored in a high-risk present condition at the factory. On Monday, the Andhra Pradesh government on Monday directed the company to immediately take 13,000 metric tonnes (MT) of material out of the country. Accordingly, the state government arranged, with the help of the Union Shipping Ministry, a vessel to carry 8000 MT to the company’s HQ LG Chem Ltd. in Seoul. Another vessel is being arranged to ship 5000 MT out of the factory. This process is said to be completed in 3 – 4 days, a press release from the Chief Minister’s office said.

Two experts deputed by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Dr. Anjan Ray, director of the Indian Institute of Petroleum and Shantanu Geete, an industry expert, inspected the storage facilities at the Vizag port premises, DC reported.

A senior official said, “It was noticed that polymerization has just begun in another storage facility on the factory premises.”

The experts also visited the storage facility in the port and found out that not all technical and safety parameters were being followed. Dr Ray, who is an expert on styrene, recommended to the government that material from both the factory and the port should immediately cleared.

“The preliminary conclusion is that the storage facilities were not designed to keep the material for a long duration. The plant personnel claimed that the material is emptied every 10-15 days and never stored more than that,” industries minister M Goutham Reddy told the publication.

Related:

Visakhapatnam Gas leak: National Green Tribunal orders LG Polymers India to deposit ₹50 crore for damage caused

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