The Indian Oil Corporation has decided to provide compensation to the victims of the recent gas tanker accident at Puthentheruvu near Karunagappally in Kollam district.
An official release issued by the Office of the Food and Civil Supplies Minister here on Tuesday said that the company would provide Rs. 5 lakhs to the next of kin of the dead. (Nine persons had been killed in the accident.) The injured would be provided Rs. 25000 to Rs. 50000, depending on the gravity of the injuries. Besides, the company would provide Rs. 50 lakhs to the State government to be disbursed to people whose properties were destroyed or damaged.
The release recalled that Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan had written to Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora requesting payment of compensation to the next of kin of the dead, the injured and those who had lost property. Besides, Minister C. Divakaran, who represents the Karunagappally constituency, had contacted the Chairman and Managing Director of Indian Oil Corporation S. Bahuria regarding the compensation.
