VISAKHAPATNAM: Residents of RR Venkatapuram, Venkatapuram, Venkatadri Colony, Padmanabhapuram, Nandamuri Nagar and SC/ BC colony who left their homes after gas leak at LG Polymers plant have started returning to their homes Monday afternoon.
Till evening, only a few people arrived in the villages and most of those returned were who took shelter either in their relatives’ houses or friends’ houses after the incident.
Those returned early have been facing problems such as pungent smell emanating from their houses as they were locked for five days. They found all food items, including vegetables and groceries spoiled, and unfit for consumption. Housewives were seen cleaning the utensils which were left unwashed and other family members started cleaning the house.
Speaking to TNIE, Kunda Ganesh, who is a contractor of LG Polymers, said he returned home in the afternoon after his neighbour informed him that they can return now. He said his son, who was working in the dockyard, alerted them around 3 am about the gas leak as he was on night duty. They came out of their house and reached a safe place. However, later the gas intensity increased and the same was felt when they opened their house.
Ramalakshmi, a housewife, fell unconscious while cleaning her house at Venkatapuram. She was immediately taken to a police camp and her husband contacted doctors for treatment. Her husband said he was clearing the house outside, while Ramalakshmi was cleaning the kitchen and hall. He said he rushed to her when she said she was feeling uneasy.
E Ramu Naidu, village vice-president, said they returned home only to find all food items and groceries spoiled. They were throwing away rice and vegetables as they were unfit for consumption. He said it will take a week or so to return to normal.Many people were still coming by four-wheelers and two-wheelers and some are heading for their homes walking from the main road. Meanwhile, a couple of grocery shops and medical shops were opened here and there.
In-charge administrator of ward secretariat Naidu said they were facing problems in enumeration of houses due to shortage of volunteers in the village. Six of 21 volunteers fell sick due to gas leak and some left for their friends’ homes. They were left with only six volunteers to do enumeration and will complete it in a couple of days. Ministers Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, Botsa Satyanarayana and K Kanna Babu, Collector Vinay Chand and other officials visited the area to inspect sanitisation. They said as per the CM’s directive, they will spend the night in the villages to boost the morale of people