He said that the affidavit was a pledge of compliance with the law, rather than an admission of violating the law. [13][14] Styrene monomer must be stored between 20–22 °C (68–72 °F) because higher temperatures result in rapid vaporization. IANS While acute symptoms were instantly shown by the exposed population, the long term effects of the exposure are yet to be identified. The Andhra Pradesh government, in response, announced an ex gratia of ₹1 cr each for kin of the deceased as well as funds for the injured, allocating a budget of ₹30 crores for the compensation of all those affected. By: Express Web Desk | Hyderabad, New Delhi | Updated: May 7, 2020 10:16:49 pm. It also asked the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs to investigate any possible breaches of workplace health and safety law. They said those facilities were vulnerable to a leak of vapour on a larger scale and stored in a high-risk condition. The committee would be supervised by former Andhra Pradesh High Court judge, B. Seshasayana Reddy. LG Polymers India said the team would take prompt rehabilitation and real-time remedial measures. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines. International Agency for Research on Cancer, India’s proposed overhaul of environment clearance rules could dilute existing regulations, You may republish Mongabay content in your publication at no cost. Read more: India’s proposed overhaul of environment clearance rules could dilute existing regulations, Government pushes for post facto environment clearances while apex court disapproves. “Spoke to officials of MHA and NDMA regarding the situation in Visakhapatnam, which is being monitored closely. To ensure the site's safety, LG said the retarder and inhibitor would be added into the tanks of the styrene stored at LG Polymers to prevent further degradation and any future gas leaks. Being a part of tort law (loosely translates into judge-made law), the definition of strict liability is not contained in any statute. The leak was from one of two chemical tanks that had been left unattended since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Preliminary investigations concluded that the accident was likely the result of insufficient maintenance of units storing the styrene monomer, improper storage, and operation errors. The worst-hit Gopalapatnam village reverberated with cries of people for help. Jagan Mohan Reddy has stated that the company would be held responsible for the incident and action would be taken against it, experts believe that a lack of stringent action against the erring industries by the Andhra Pradesh government has encouraged such defaulting industries. Children and the elderly were most affected. She explained to Mongabay-India that there needs to be mandatory space for “decommissioning” and “strict no to chemical industries in rural areas” in Indian environmental norms as a preventive measure to avoid such accidents or to reduce the impact of such cases. While eight persons died due to inhaling the styrene gas, three were killed while trying to escape from the area. “Both the Bhopal gas tragedy and the Visakhapatnam (Vizag) gas leak occurred during the night and also when the plants were about to restart after some time gap. Dhara, who is also a member of the International Medical Commission on Bhopal, said a detailed analysis and a long term study is needed to reveal the long term effect of the gas on the exposed human population. The report allowed for possible charges under sections 278 (making the atmosphere noxious to health), 284 (negligent conduct with respect to poisonous substance), 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life), and 304 (causing death by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). It was merged with McDowell &Co of the UB Group in 1978 and was taken over by South Korea-based LG Chem in 1997 which renamed it as LG Polymers. The preliminary findings of the Andhra Pradesh Forensic Science Laboratory have revealed that the accident was due to human error as the temperature of the storage tank containing styrene was not maintained below 20 degree Celsius. The Visakhapatnam gas leak, also referred to as the Vizag gas leak, was an industrial accident that occurred at the LG Polymers chemical plant in the R. R. Venkatapuram village of the Gopalapatnam neighbourhood, located at the outskirts of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India, during the early morning of 7 May 2020. Does Fame II stop the growth of the Indian auto sector? First, it is absolutely clear that the industry was a profit-making venture, which assumes importance in absolute liability cases. Many people fell unconscious during their sleep, a villager said. Gas leaked from a chemical plant in Visakhapatnam in the early hours of Thursday and quickly spread to villages in a five-kilometre radius, killing at least 11 people and impacting about 1,000, many collapsing to the ground as they tried to escape the toxic vapours. Some experts claimed that the gas leak is a clear case of human negligence. With factory workers and the overall company inexperienced in storing tanks of such dangerous chemicals, the report blamed the incident on "gross human failure" and a lack of basic safety norms. Styrene is an organic compound that is found in liquid form but vapourises at high temperatures. The case is scheduled to be heard on June 1. Most of the affected villages were within three kilometres radius of the plant. [3] He also announced ₹25,000 (US$350) for those who received primary treatment, ₹1 lakh (US$1,400) for those who received longer treatment, and ₹1 million (US$14,000) for those on ventilator support.