Vizag gas leak: High-Power Committee holds discussions with experts

It also had a meeting with Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) representatives.
Vizag gas leak: High-Power Committee holds discussions with experts

VISAKHAPATNAM: The High-Power Committee (HPC) constituted by the State government to study the causes behind the gas leak at the plant of LG Polymers India Pvt Ltd at RR Venkatapuram on May 7, arrived here on Saturday. As many as 12 persons died and several hundreds were hospitalised following styrene vapour leak.

The committee headed by Special Chief Secretary Neerabh Kumar Prasad, held discussions with technical experts on its interim report on the issues related to cause of leak, tank design, monitoring system and emergency response.  

It also discussed the causes of chemical reaction, which led to the vapour leak, role of the various functionaries of LG Polymers, design aspects of the tank, refrigeration system, usage of inhibitors and other chemicals and also regulatory mechanism. 

Committee members Special Chief Secretary R Karikal Valaven, Collector Vinay Chand, Commissioner of Police RK Meena and Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board Member-Secretary Vivek Yadav, also participated in the discussions. Experts who participated in the discussions, included IIPE Director VSRK Prasad, S Bala Prasad of Department of Civil Engineering of Andhra University and former AU professor KV Rao.

The committee also held discussions with the Director of Factories on issues related with the Factories Act, 1948, manufacture, storage, import of hazardous chemical rules 1989 and chemical accidents (emergency planning, preparedness and response) rules 1996. It also had a meeting with Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) representatives.

Earlier, the committee members had a video conference with Anjan Ray, Director of Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun, RK Elangovan, DG, Directorate General, Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes, Mumbai, Bharat Kumar Sharma, Regional Director of Central Pollution Control Board, Pune, and Smita Mohanty of Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology, Ahmedabad.

The committee also interacted with members of the committee constituted by the National Green Tribunal Ch V Ramachandra Murthy and P Jagannadha Rao. It also discussed the NEERI report and report of APPCB about the impact of styrene  vapour leak on the air, water and soil quality and correlate it with the affected area.

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