Vizag gas leak: Tension at LG Polymers plant as villagers protest demanding its closure

Visakhapatnam: High tension prevailed at the LG Polymers at RR Venkatapuram village near here as irate villagers staged a protest on Saturday demanding immediate closure of the plant.

The protesters placed two bodies of the dead in front of the factory main gate as part of the agitation while some youths barged into the plant even as state Director General of Police D G Sawang was inspecting the vapour leak spot and talking to the management on the measures taken to restore normalcy.

The bodies were brought to the village for cremation on Saturday from the KGH mortuary after post-mortem. The angry villagers, however, stopped the ambulances in front of the plant gate and laid the bodies on the road.

Emotions ran high as the villagers demanded that the plant be shut down immediately as it completely ruined our lives.

A styrene vapour leak from the plastics manufacturing plant caused the death of 12 persons on Thursday.

Hundreds of villagers, who were provided shelter in Visakhapatnam after the vapour leak, returned to the village this morning, raising slogans against the factory management and demanding its closure.

The police posted near the plant for security duty tried to prevent the villagers from going near the plant but the latter broke the security cordon and staged a sit-in protest near the factory gate.

Police initially took some of the protesters into custody and whisked them away but scores of others entered the scene subsequently.

At one point, many of the villagers barged into the plant through a small entrance gate and one woman was seen falling on the DGP's feet and pleading that the unit be closed forthwith.

A stumped Visakhapatnam police commissioner R K Meena directed his officers and men to drive out the villagers from the factory premises, following which police necked them out.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police Gautam Sawang today said that the gas leakage from LG Polymers has been plugged and the situation is absolutely under control. Sawang told reporters after a visit to the chemical plant that more technical teams from Delhi will be reaching here later in the day to have further look into the situation and decide the way forward.

"The situation is absolutely under control. All those reactions and leakages have been plugged. There is no matter of concern anymore," he said.

More technical teams from the areas of the chemical and petroleum industry will be arriving to have further look into the situation.

DGP said he reviewed the situation and had discussions with the technical teams on the ground. The police chief said he had a meeting with technical experts, scientists and the special team from National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), personally visited the site and found everything completely under control.

Stating that there is no need for panic, he said the experts on Friday asked people of the five villages near the plant to remain in the relief camps and wait for another 48 hours. "Experts yesterday sought 48 hours as per protocol to bring everything under control and to meet all parameters. Everything is under control but to be on the safer side they have sought the time, he said.

Asked about the investigation, the DGP said it was still on. "The committee has been set up. It will come here and take all expert and technical inputs. We will wait as they are more technically competent to say how, why and under what circumstances this happened."

The police chief said it was not correct to say that only simple sections were invoked in the case against the company. "What sections had to be applied were all applied. The investigations are still on. We have to wait. There are a lot of technical elements in this. At this stage all must come together to overcome this challenge to bring normalcy. This is more important."

(With agency inputs)