The Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) will replace all unsafe pipelines not only in the KG Basin but across the country after an audit. GAIL Director (Projects) Ashutosh Karnatak told The Hindu on Sunday that corrective measures were being taken. The assurance comes in the wake of the blowout which claimed 19 lives in Nagaram village of Mamidikuduru mandal in East Godavari district on Friday. Holding General Manager Pankaj Patel and Deputy General Manager Rakesh Prasad at the Rajahmundry unit primarily responsible for the gas pipeline blast, Mr. Ashutosh said the two officials had been suspended.
CompensationHe said a cheque of Rs.3.80 crore (Rs. 20 lakh each to 19 families) towards compensation to the families of deceased had been handed over to Collector Neetu Prasad at her camp office in Kakinada. An additional sum of Rs. 9 lakh was given to the injured (Rs. 50,000each to 18 victims) through the Collector, Mr. Ashutosh said.
Meanwhile, two more persons—Chinna and Rajyalakshmi succumbed to injuries in Apollo Hospital in Kakinada, taking the death toll to 20, on Sunday.
The negligence of the officials that led to the disaster has made the villagers angry. VIPs visiting the village are met with the slogans of “go back” and “down down”.
Botcha, Chiru bear the bruntFormer Union Minister Chiranjeevi and former PCC president Botcha Satyanarayana who visited the village on Sunday, bore the villagers’ brunt. “We don’t want your sympathy; we want relocation of the GAIL pipeline from our village. No political leader should visit us for mileage,” they shouted, prompting the two VIPs to beat a hasty retreat.
