Andhra government sanctions Rs 30 crore for ex-gratia, financial assistance to gas leak victims

The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday sanctioned Rs 30 crores towards ex-gratia and financial assistance for the victims of the Vizag gas leak incident.

The government has announced that Rs 1 crore to be paid to the kin of the deceased victims.

In a video conference on Friday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy instructed the officials to immediately release ex-gratia amount to the victims and their families.

Acoording to an official release, the Chief Minister said that a comprehensive safety audit of all the industries should be taken up and a Standard Operating Procedure should be enforced.

He said the officials should come up with suitable recommendations to avoid such mishaps in the future.

He said that the Pollution Control Board (PCB) should be strengthened and directed the officials to identify hazardous factories in and around Visakhapatnam located in densely populated areas.

Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney, DGP Gautham Sawang, Vizag city Police Commissioner RK Meena, District Collector Vadarevu Vinaychand, and other senior officials were present during the review meeting.

The officials said that the situation has been brought under control, with over 60 per cent of the chemical already polymerized and the process will be 18-24 hours.

On Thursday styrene gas leak at the plant of LG Polymers in RR Venkatapuram village in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh claimed 11 lives.

An FIR has been registered against LG Polymers in connection with the incident.

( With inputs from ANI )