Is Vizag sitting on a ticking time bomb?

Is Visakhapatnam which is being touted as the new capital of Andhra Pradesh sitting on a powder keg? Have we so easily forgotten the world's worst Bhopal gas tragedy where the company owners escaped from the country without any punishment though an entire generation was wiped out? Is the same going to be repeated in the L G Polymer gas leak incident? Will action be taken against villains of Vizag?

Well so far, no clear answers are available to these questions. All that has happened so far is a generous announcement of Rs 1 crore each compensation to the families of those who lost their lives and Rs 10 lakh each to those who are on ventilator and so on.

It has also constituted a "high power committee," consisting of IAS officers to probe into the gas leak and recommend measures to be taken to prevent recurrence of such incidents.

In addition, it has officials to focus attention on 86 companies and study the safety measures so that Vizag can be a safe city. A Group of Ministers has also been constituted to monitor the follow up action. Incidentally none of them is an expert.

While Rs 1 crore compensation certainly is an all-time high, it is not the solution. The State government would be appreciated if it takes exemplary action against the management of killer unit and sets a model for the rest of the country.

Even the very first reaction was that L G is a reputed company. Well, it may be so, but still its negligence has claimed the lives of 12 people who are innocent and that too outside the premises of the factory.

It has affected hundreds of children and no one knows what their future is? Whether they will grow up without any side effects or not, no one knows.

Experts say that styrene gas exposure could have long-term problems and could affect the central nervous system and kidney. It can also have carcinogenic impact.

On the other hand, some experts including the former Vice Chancellor of Andhra University Prof Nageshwar raised some doubts saying that styrene gas does not claim life.

But since 12 people died in the tragedy, a thorough probe by experts including the State and Central Pollution Control Boards should be done to find out whether styrene gas got mixed with some other chemicals.

The gas that leaked on Thursday not only impacted human beings but even livestock like buffaloes and trees as well. No one knows what would be its impact on soil and the Meghadrigedda reservoir which is the main source of water.

The statements being made by the administration or the people's representatives do not even make any mention of this and this gives rise to various questions.

Industry Minister Gautam Reddy said the factory would not be opened till all safety measures were in place and certified by the high power committee. Does this mean that the government is being soft on the management?

Certainly, industrialisation needs to be promoted but not at the cost of risking lives of people. One would have appreciated if the government had at least said that it would consider shifting of the unit to some other place.

But in the absence of such tough talk, doubts are being raised on whether we have learnt lessons from series of industrial accident that had taken place in the country whether it be the Bhopal gas tragedy or various other incidents that followed till date.

What certainly causes concern for people of Vizag is that so far, the industrial accidents were confined to the premises of various units but for the first time leakage of gas on such a large scale had taken place affecting the people staying in the neighbouring areas.

This certainly is not the time to show apathy or soft corner towards the industrial units. This should be an alarm bell and the government should go tough in handling the situation without any consideration. If the disaster had taken place in some other country, the consequences would have been serious.

Unfortunately, the history of accidents in India including Bhopal gas tragedy shows that the managements always escaped.

Four days after a deadly gas leak at Union Carbide's plant in Bhopal in 1984, the company's chairman, Warren Anderson, was arrested on his arrival in the capital of Madhya Pradesh.

But after being held under house arrest for only a few hours, Anderson got bail and quickly left the country, never to return. Several reports have suggested that the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was pressured by the US to let Anderson go.

Senior Congress leader Arjun Singh, who was then the Chief Minister of MP, wrote this in his autobiography 'A Grain of Sand in the Hourglass of Time'.

The fact is that the Pollution Control Board which should have been the nodal agency has failed to ensure implementation of safety measures. Even when their guidelines are not followed, there is no follow-up action.

It is alleged that the PCBs are playing dormant role because of political intervention irrespective of which party is in power.

In fact, the governments whether State or Central should make it a point that no habitations are allowed within the prescribed radius of such hazardous industrial units. Only then such disasters can be controlled.

What is happening now is that an industrial unit is set up in the zone earmarked for it in the city outskirts. But over a period time construction activity takes place in large scale and colonies come up even within a radius of 300 metres of such companies.

How does this happen? The big question is why and how do the municipal authorities permit construction of houses in such red zone areas? This again is because of political pressure.

Incidentally, this also turns into a milch cow for the municipal authorities who turn a blind eye when constructions are on for different considerations.

The irony is that every time some such ghastly accident takes place, officials of various departments including police, medical staff, media and politicians play hyperactive role.

This continues for a couple of days and then all are back to their normal activities. The Ministers and local leaders visit hospitals, announce ex-gratia, make statements that the guilty will be punished and there the matter ends.

In case of LG Polymer incident, history seems to be repeating itself. Chief Minister, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has been very liberal in announcing ex-gratia of Rs 1 crore each to the bereaved families and a job in the same company for any one member from that family and certified that it is a very reputed company and the government would wait for the report from the high power committee before it was allowed to re-start its operations.

It is being alleged that the YSRCP government had permitted LG Polymers to start functioning even while the clearance from Union Ministry of Environment was pending. This is one aspect which needs to be looked into by the high power committee before finalising its report.

Local people say that this company had in 2019 filed an affidavit that it would abide by the guidelines of the Supreme Court. But there does not appear to be any material to prove that they had really followed the guidelines or not.

It is not clear whether the PCB was satisfied about the measures taken by the company or not. What also needs to be answered is why PCB officials and expert engineers from industrial safety wing were not present when the company started its operations after 40-day lockdown?

Another issue that needs to be probed is the allegation that the staff even after noticing the leakage of gas from the valve did not sound the alarm nor did they alert the police and fire brigade for 45 minutes.

Why was this kind of negligence shown? What is more surprising is that the kin of the dead have been promised jobs to one eligible family member in the company.

Accepting such an offer by the victims' family could have a psychological impact. They would be reminded of the grim tragedy they faced every minute they work there. It also gives an indication that the company would remain where it is.

Another major concern is: Will the area become normal in terms of weather? Will the chirping of birds be heard again? These questions arise because there is no way to measure the toxicity in weather according environmentalists.

Another drawback is that we have Disaster Management Act in place but no Compensation Act. No officer has so far been punished for negligence or dereliction of duty.