Establishment of an Industries Emergency Response System (IERS), hazard analysis laboratory and regular safety audit to embed safety culture among the hazardous industries located in Visakhapatnam and its neighbourhood are some of the decisions taken by the government to reduce industrial accidents.
Incidents recorded
Visakhapatnam district recorded 16 accidents of which in 13 cases criminal proceedings for negligence were initiated during last year.
The district has the largest pharmaceutical cluster with an estimated annual turnover of ₹ 20,000 crore, most of them concentrated at Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City (JNPC), Parawada, about 50 km from here.
“After discussions with stakeholders, we have decided to establish a skill development centre as many of the workers engaged by the process units do not have adequate knowledge on safety precautions to be taken by them,” Director of Factories G. Bala Kishore told The Hindu .
Pilot project
He said IERS had received approval from the government as well as consent from the industries to become partners. The pilot project will come up at Parawada under PPP mode.
It will have 24x7 air ambient quality monitoring system as well as facilities to keep a tab on emission of various pollutants. Drone cameras will be deployed to monitor the area.
In case of an emergency, help will be rendered immediately with the involvement of the all the industries.
Mr. Kishore said depending on the success, the experiment would be replicated at Tada, Nellore, Tirupati, Pydibhimavaram, Atchutapuram and other industrial areas.
On lack of coordination among Factories Department, AP Pollution Control Board and other enforcement agencies, he said steps were being taken to have proper understanding.
Factories Minister Pithani Satyanarayana, who was here to attend a recent meeting on chemical safety and disaster mitigation, said if required they would amend the existing laws to give more teeth to the enforcement agencies.
