PMK founder Dr. S. Ramadoss on Saturday urged the State government to conduct a thorough safety inspection in 2,588 chemical industries before restarting the factories to prevent accidents.
In a statement, Dr. Ramadoss said that safety measures should be taken to prevent gas leaks such as the one that happened in public sector urea factory in Manali on Thursday night. “The ammonia gas leak that happened in urea factory in Manali in Chennai has caused health concerns and fear in many. If such incidents happen in other chemical industries, it will lead to serious consequences. Proper safety precautions must be taken,” he said.
The reason for the ammonia gas leak was that proper safety measures were not followed while undertaking maintenance work. “Since only a small amount of ammonia got leaked, there were no major consequences. If the leak had been like how it happened in a factory in Vishakapatnam, the effects would have been worse,” said Dr. Ramadoss.
Tiruvallur, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Thoothukudi districts have chemical industries and it is the State government’s responsibility to ensure that there are no accidents in these factories, he said.
