High-powered panel of IAS officers is hogwash: Naidu

The probe ordered by the state government into the gas leak incident in Vizag that had left 12 dead and hundreds of people hospitalized is a hog-wash and merely constituting a high-powered panel of IAS officers will not serve the purpose, TDP chief and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu said on Friday.

Asking the Jagan government to desist from its casual approach in dealing with the situation, the TDP chief wondered if the deaths were caused by styrene gas or any other chemical as currently no studies have reported deaths from short-term exposure to styrene gas. Hence, it is not clear if the deaths were caused by styrene gas or some other chemical or a combination, he said.

The government on Friday set up a high-power committee comprising senior IAS officers special principal secretary Neerab Kumar Prasaad, Pollution Control Board member Vivek Yadav, district Collector of Visakhapatnam Vinay Chand, City Police Commissioner Rajiv Kumar Meena. The committee has been tasked to conduct a thorough probe into the gas leak and submit a report within a month.

Addressing the mediapersons via Zoom conference, Naidu said merely constituting a high-powered panel of IAS officers will not help. “Setting up IAS officers’ panel will not help. What do they know about styrene gas? No one ever heard of deaths caused by styrene gas. Announcing compensation and discussing the gas leak at a superficial level will not solve the problem. Were the standard operating procedures followed in shutting down and recommissioning the plant? Have they followed the hazardous chemicals rules in the maintenance of the chemicals? Did any other chemical mix along with Styrene gas? These are the questions that the government needs to answer,” Naidu said. Further, he said, the gas leak incident was a clear case of criminal negligence by the management of LG Polymers Company. “It needs to be properly investigated if all the precautionary measures were taken when the closed plant was restarted after the lockdown restrictions were eased,” he said. Naidu has urged the government to immediately close down LG Polymers plant in Visakhapatnam necessary to shift the entire unit to Special Economic Zone (SEZ) that has no population in the vicinity. The government must undertake a thorough study on the long-term impact on the survivors of the gas leak victims. “Trees have been burnt, animals died. Hundreds of people fell unconscious on the pavements. Some people went into coma. It was unfortunate and disturbing. This cannot be taken casually. There should be a detailed study on the impact of styrene gas on people and animals as no such research study is available on the effects of styrene gas.”