VISAKHAPATNAM: ChiefMinister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday formally transferred Rs 10,000 each to 19,893 people of affected villages abutting LG Polymers plant at RR Venkatapuram in Visakhapatnam.
Addressing the victims and officials of Visakhapatnam district from his camp office at Tadepalli, the Chief Minister said tragic incidents such as the gas leak in LG Polymers should not occur again in the State. The CM appealed to people not to panic as the State government will always stand by them. He said for the first time Rs 1 crore was paid to 12 families, whose members had died in the gas leak. “The government’s priority is to restore normalcy and provide help to the victims,” he asserted.
He informed that the Centre and the State have constituted committees to investigate the incident. Action will be taken against those responsible as per the recommendations of the committees. None will be spared, he assured.
Responding to a victim’s plea, Jagan Mohan Reddy promised to give jobs to one member each from 12 families. He praised the district officials, ministers and YSRC leaders, who responded to the situation with alacrity. He said the ministers had spent a night in the affected villages to boost the confidence of the people. He also interacted with some of the victims during the video conference.
District Collector V Vinay Chand informed the Chief Minister that sanitisation will continue in the affected villages. The medical camps will be conducted for the next one month in the said villages, he said.Later, addressing mediapersons, Tourism Minister Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao alias Avanthi said compensation was paid to every member of 6,398 families in 17 colonies abutting the LG Polymers plant. He stated that the Chief Minister directed all industries in the State be inspected to prevent recurrence of such accidents.
He clarified that the State government will take action against LG Polymers as its negligence led to the accident. A case has already been filed against the company and action will be initiated once the committee submits its report.
The minister informed that the company deposited Rs 50 crore with the Collector as per the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) directive. The Animal Husbandry department will supply fodder to cattle in the affected villages.
Ward volunteers will visit each and every house to ascertain whether the compensation has been credited to their bank accounts or not, Avanthi explained.He said those who wish to file complaints against the company can send them to the Collector next week.Commissioner of Police RK Meena, GVMC commissioner G Srijana, Joint Collector M Venugopala Reddy, Vizag MP MVV Satyanarayana, MLA Adeep Raj were also present.
NEERI report on Meghadri Gedda likely by tomorrow
Visakhapatnam: GVMC is awaiting National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) report with regard to styrene presence in Meghadri Gedda reservoir. GVMC water supply SE Venugopal said the report is likely to be received by Wednesday. He said PCB and regional testing lab have found that pollutants in the reservoir are within permissible limits.
13K tonnes of SM shifted to S Korea
The LG Polymers on Monday stated that it had shifted styrene monomer (SM)inventory in the plant and styrene tanks at Vizag Port, totalling 13,000 tonnes, to South Korea. MD Jeong Sunkey said, “We are focusing on restoring normalcy here. With the help of a team of experts from Seoul, we have formed a special task force to support victims and their families.”