Visakhapatnam: Villagers against LG Polymers' closure

Visakhapatnam: After the styrene monomer leak at the LG Polymers happened on May 7, the demand to close down the factory has grown louder.

With the mishap killing 13 persons and affecting hundreds, the plant's shift or its closure appeared to be inevitable at least during the initial weeks of the accident. But when The Hans India team did a ground report, it revealed a different picture altogether. As the AP High Court orders seizure of the LG Polymers premises, the villagers who staged a protest against the closure of the plant now want the company to continue in the locality itself.

However, they urge that the company should ensure better safety protocols and take concrete steps to avoid recurrence of the accident. Sharing their grievances, the residents of five villages – Venkatapuram, Nandamuri Nagar, Kamparapalem, SC/BC Colony and Padmanabha Nagar – mentioned that initially they were disappointed with the management's apathy as some of them have lost their family members. This coupled with political one-upmanship led to demanding closure of the plant, they mentioned.

About 400-500 employees residing in and around the plant have been engaged in various jobs on permanent as well as contract basis at the plant. At Venkatapuram alone, more than 300 persons were working at the LG Polymers.If the company gets shifted or closed, many fear that it would impact their livelihoods and affect their family members which would not be less than 2,000.

Even after such a magnitude of incident, the villagers want the company to continue in the same premises as they do not want to become jobless, especially in times of coronavirus pandemic. According to guidelines, companies that deal with chemicals such as styrene monomer need to conduct regular mock drills and awareness programmes in the neighbouring areas for every six months. However, villagers say that they hardly witnessed such programmes or mock drills.

G Gopi has been working at the LG Polymers for the past six years on contract basis. He says, "Many families are dependent on the company for the past several years. During corona time, it is hard to find employment opportunities elsewhere if the plant gets closed."

Another employee of the plant, E Appa Rao, says, "Occasionally, the smoke used to emanate from the plant but that never proved to be fatal during my two-decade-long stint at the plant until recently. It is better to consider security measures to avoid future accidents rather than seizing the company premises."

Sharing her views, S Saraswathi, a resident of Venkatapuram, opines, "Several development works have been taken up as a part of the LG Polymers' corporate social responsibility initiatives. The closure of the factory will only affect us as it will make many of the residents jobless. Our only plea is that the company's management should focus on our health as well."

K Lakshmi, a homemaker in the same colony says, "The company should adopt advanced technology that would alert people if anything goes wrong in future and avoid fatal accidents at any cost as it is disheartening to lose lives."