A day after the massive blast and gas leak at the Nagarjuna Agrichem plant near Chilakalapalem, agitated locals on Sunday staged a protest accusing the management of making life miserable for thousands of people in and around 15 villages of Rajam, Ponduru and Etcherla mandals. They alleged that the management had thrown safety and pollution norms to the winds.
Several villagers with the support of opposition parties, including the CPI (M) and the BJP, organised a ‘rasta roko’ on the busy Srikakulam-Visakhapatnam highway leading to a traffic jam between Etcherla and Ranasthalam. The ‘rasta roko’ between Chilkalapalem and Rajam continued till 3 p.m. Heavy police force was deployed to avert untoward incidents. The villagers, firm on staging the protest till evening, had a heated argument with the revenue and the police officials.
“We have been leading a difficult life for the last two decades. The officials have not responded properly to the threat posed by the plant. We will continue the agitation till the closure of the plant,” said P. Lakshmana Rao and V. Govindrarajulu, residents of Akkivalasa village.
‘Notices ignored’
CPI(M) State secretariat member Ch. Narasinga Rao said groundwater and air pollution in all the villages such as Chilakapalem, Akkivalasa, Kesavadasupuram would end only if the plant was closed. “The State government should initiate stringent action against the management since it had ignored the previous notices of the Pollution Control Board and district administration,” he added.
Meanwhile, Srikakulam RDO G. Damodar issued a show cause notice to Nagarjuna Agrichem to explain reasons for the blast and also for ignoring previous notices issued by various departments.
