Andhra Pradesh govt hands over cheques for Rs 1 crore each to victims of Vizag gas leak

National

The CM of Andhra kept his word in giving ex gratia to the victims of Vizag tragedy. He moved all the state administrative machinery to Vizag. Andhra Pradesh government has given Rs 1 crore exgratia to the kin of the deceased family members in the Vizaga gas leak incident and Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has instructed the officials to keep the State clean of such hazardous units while the surrounding area of the incident has been sanitized and the remaining stock of the Styrene gas is been sent back to South Korea and normalcy is returning to the five most affected villages.

The Group of Ministers (GoM), today visited the houses of the deceased to hand over the cheques of Rs 1 crore and monitored the clean-up operation of the areas surrounding the plant. The compensation for others who had taken ill will be paid in the coming three days, the Ministers said, after a video conference with the Chief Minister. Meanwhile, 13,000 tonnes of Styrene gas is being sent back to South Korea while the civic staff has been sanitizing the entire area and has been creating awareness among the locals about the safety measures after the gas leak and how to dust away from the residuals.

Speaking to the media during the distribution of compensation cheques, district in-charge Minister, K Kannababu said, “The incident occurred on May 7 and within four days of the mishap, we are providing compensation to the affected families. This is the true indication of the commitment of our Chief Minister, who has been constantly reviewing the situation with officials. Like never before by any State government, the Chief Minister announced Rs 1 crore ex gratia to the kin of those who have lost their lives in the tragedy.

Those who are in hospital for serious ailment would get Rs 10 lakh each and others, who are hospitalized, would receive Rs 1 lakh each as compensation. Also, all the families residing in the affected villages are to be compensated with Rs 10,000 each. The entire cost of hospitalization will be borne by the Government.’
Meanwhile, Minister Botsa Satyanarayana said that the State government is taking up all the required measures to normalize the situation in the affected five villages, where the sanitization works are in place. “All the public spaces including the open drains, sewage canals are being cleaned and sanitized. We are also going to provide sanitation liquids to the households for indoor cleaning purposes. Currently, the emission levels have been nullified and by Monday evening and people are returning homes.”

In 2017, during TDP term, Chandrababu gave permission for the expansion of LG Polymers, despite knowing that it is surrounded by the residential colony. In 2018, he again gave permission for the same company for expansion and development activities for the next five years. The gas leak occurred post lockdown relaxations, where the industry remained closed for about 40 days, during which the chemical reactions took place in the storage tank.

In regard to this incident, the State government has appointed a high-powered committee to probe the accident and take stringent action against the company. In addition to this, the Chief Minister instructed the officials to shift the styrene tanks to the city outskirts and also conduct inspections in all such industries.
A statewide drive would be taken up to identify such hazardous units across the state.

Ministers K Kanna Babu, Botsa Satyanarayana, Avanti Srinivas, Dharmana Krishna Das, Chief Secretary Neelam Sawhney, DGP Goutham Sawang, Vizag District Collector, Vinaychand participated in the video conference.