VIJAYAWADA: The High-Power Committee (HPC) constituted to probe the cause behind the LG Polymers gas leak and suggest steps, which till now had elicited the opinion of various stakeholders, said it will have an interaction with the affected group in the next few days.
The State government constituted the HPC on May 8 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-convenor 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.
The committee visited the mishap site 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.
Discussions were also held with the top officials at the factory covering all aspects of the accident and the subsequent events.
On Monday, the HPC elicited the views of NDRF and the health teams who were involved in the relief operations and also with three environmental and scientific experts in the field.
Meanwhile, taking serious note of the gas leak from LG Polymers, which claimed 12 lives besides affecting hundreds of people and animals, the State government deployed four teams to inspect safety norms in all the 20 hazardous industries in Visakhapatnam district.
Speaking to TNIE, HPC member R Karikal Valaven said 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.
Asserting that the situation at LG Polymers is out of danger, he said the temperature of the tank from where the leak occurred was brought down to below 70 degree Celsius.
Send them your inputs
Stating that it is planning to hold interactions with the affected people, HPC Chairman Neerabh Kumar Prasad said those who are interested can send their inputs to the HPC through email to convenorhpc@gmail.com.