The CPI(M) has opposed the decision of the State government to allow LG Polymers to use the land in its possession in the city for setting up a home appliances manufacturing facility and relocate the polymers plant from the city to Krishnapatnam in Nellore district.
Addressing the media here on Wednesday, party State Secretariat member Ch. Narasinga Rao and City Committee secretary B. Ganga Rao demanded that the government reconsider the decision.
Gas leak tragedy
The styrene monomer leak at the LG Polymers plant in the city on May 7, 2020, was still fresh in the minds of the people, they said. The accident had resulted in the death of 15 persons, besides triggering health problems in 585 others, they added.
“The residents of colonies located around the plant had to flee their homes. Drinking water sources in the area were contaminated. Those affected by the gas leak continue to suffer from various ailments,” the CPI(M) leaders said.
“The negligence of the company management was responsible for the accident. The company had restarted production during the first phase of the lockdown without obtaining permission. The storage of huge quantities of hazardous chemicals in the tanks without proper maintenance and inadequate safety precautions were responsible for the accident. The high-power committee constituted by the State government and the NGT had confirmed that negligence of the management was the reason behind the accident,” they said.
‘No environmental clearances’
The CPI(M) leaders further said that the company had run the plant without obtaining environmental clearances from 1996. The company had also failed to implement the safety norms and had even refused to comply with the laws in India, they alleged.
“The company had not even provided permanent employment to the workers,” the CPI(M) leaders alleged, and said that permitting the MNC to start a home appliances manufacturing facility at the same place would be detrimental to the interests of the residents.
They demanded that the State government take over the land and set up an industry with public investment so that it could provide employment to the local people. They also demanded that some of the victims, who had not been compensated earlier, be given the same now. The government should also bear the cost of medical treatment and also establish a super-specialty hospital in the area, they said, and demanded the implementation of the recommendations of the high-power committee.
