It’s been only a fortnight since the LG Polymers gas leak incident, that killed about 13 people and made more than 1,000 sick after being exposed to the toxic gas. Yet, many of the inhabitants of the five affected villages (with a total population of approximately 25,000) located on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam (aka Vizag), Andhra Pradesh, India are still under the grip of fear as the horror of the gas tragedy is still fresh in their memories. Any responsible government would try to draw lessons from each accident, put in place more rigorous systems of safety and continuously enhance industrial safety, whereas in AP the reverse has been the case.

By Dr. Komali Yenneti

Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), June 01, 2020:

Even as the government authorities seized the premises of the LG Polymers factory and announced that the situation in the worst affected areas of the LG Polymers gas leak tragedy is returning to normal, a large number of people living in the surrounding areas of the plant are still uncertain about returning to their homes.

It’s been only a fortnight since the LG Polymers gas leak incident, that killed about 13 people and made more than 1,000 sick after being exposed to the toxicgas. Yet, many of the inhabitants of the five affected villages (with a total population of approximately 25,000) locatedon the outskirts of Visakhapatnam (aka Vizag), Andhra Pradesh, India are still under the grip of fear as the horror of the gas tragedy is still fresh in their memories.

If that was not enough, on the 21^st May, yet another gas leak incident occurred at the HPCL plant that had been unattended due to lockdown. Though the incident didn’t lead to any major socio-economic damages, it recalled the grim memories of the LG Polymers gas leak tragedy.

People living in the surrounding areas of the HPCL plant fled away with fear for life as thick smoke engulfed the skies on the outskirts of the city.

Gas leaks and smoke seem to be an integral part of their everyday life for the residents of the city of destiny.

Over the past three decades, the skies of Vizag have frequently been engulfed by clouds of gas leaks, fires and smoke. Incidentally, the world’s most destructive industrial accidents in the recent decades, in terms of human lives lost and damage to property, occurred inVizag.

Examples of Major Industrial Accidents in Vizag

(Source: Author)

The series of gas leak incidents in the recent decades leaves one with a daunting question – why do industrial disasters occur frequently in Vizag? A partial, if not full, answer to this doesn’t go unnoticeable.

The geographical advantage helped the city to acquire industrial importance in India. It’s strategic location between Kolkata and Chennai coupled with the availability of rich mineral deposits, a natural harbour,raw materials and good transport connectivity led to the setting up of major industries. Undisputedly, it is the only city in India to have the Government of India’s 10 Maharatnas and several of the Navratnas and Miniratnas.

It is also the headquarters of Eastern India Naval Base and is home to Shipyard, Harbour, Port, Dockyard, Dredging Corporation, Special Economic Zones among others.

Today, it is one of the top 10 most economically developed cities in India, and is recognised as the fifth-fastest growing ‘Industrial Metropolis’ in the Asian subcontinent.

The growth in the number of such industries naturally gave rise to increasing probabilities of ‘chain of accidents’.

An analysis of spatial growth pattern indicates that the municipal corporation area itself has 80 hazardous, 100 medium-scale and 120 small-scale industries (these numbers at the district level are very large!). And, 80% of the industries are located in the city core and close to residential areas. But ‘issues in spatial planning’ is only a reason for the impacts of the accidents.

The main grounds for the accidents are administrative functional overlaps, unaccountability and the close nexus between the political leadership in the State and the industry promoters.

Back in 2017, a social activist and former IAS officer E.A.S. Sarma remarked ‘industrial accidents causing injury and loss of life to workers and people in Visakhapatnam have become more a rule than an exception during the last several years’.

Any responsible government would try to draw lessons from each accident, put in place more rigorous systems of safety and continuously enhance industrial safety, whereas in AP the reverse has been the case.

These units are not only guilty of infringement of the safety norms but also guilty of violation of the pollution norms, he said.

It is now 2020 and still the sordid saga of fatal accidents and no deterrent actions continues, and the recent gas leak cases are of no exception.

Several cases were filed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Human Rights Commission against LG Polymers, claiming the factory had no environmental clearances between 1997 and 2019.In an affidavit given in May 2019, even the owners admitted that the plant did not have ‘environment clearance substantiating the produced quantity, issued by the competent authority for continuing operations, and was operating based on a consent given by the AP Pollution Control Board’.

On a personal discussion, G. Hymavathi, Chairperson of State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, said the South Korean owned company did not follow any public safeguard measures and there was no public alert alarm.

The neighbourhood communities were not sensitized on the consequences of styrene gas emissions’. The lack of pertinent safety and security measures coupled with quick relief apparatus in the affected communities were the preliminary grounds of the accident and its eventualities, she added.

The larger take away is that spatial planning isn’t strong on public safety as well as there is no proper accountability of factories for safeguards. 

Admittedly, the future holds to look bleak as the government addressed the LG polymers tragedy as a ‘minuscule technical leak’.

Reforms in industrial development process, stringent safety laws and better spatial planning are critical if the industrial accidents in vizag ought to not repeat. Adequate safety measures should be made mandatory at factories.

To a great extent, accidents are caused due to inadequate safety measures taken, as is also evident from the LG Polymers case. Likewise, better training and education on rules and regulations, socially responsible organisational policies and institutional guidelines, and proper communication on safety play an important role in overall safety performance.

Sufficient care has to be taken in all city development plans to maintain ecological balance and also protect settlements. 

As the GVMC comes up with a ‘Revised Master Plan 2021’, it is important to revisit better spatial planning, zoning and buffers for industrial areas.

Last but not the least, innovative measures that contribute to good governance, transparency, accountability and responsiveness should be initiated by the local governments. Industrial policies and programs should be well articulated to safeguard the public and vulnerable sections of the society.

(Dr. Komali Yenneti is Lecturer in Geography, Urban Planning and Environment at the School of Architecture and Built Environment, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom and an Honorary Fellow at the Australia India Institute, University of Melbourne, Australia. She is the founding Chair of the International Geographical Union – Young and Early Career Geographers Taskforce)

Image – An over view of the city of Visakhapatnam with industries in the background - (Source: Author)

Map caption - Location of Small Scale (Green), Medium Scale (Orange) and Hazardous (Red) Industries in the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) [Red: 80; Orange: 100; Green: 120] (Source: Author)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinion of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Indian Observer Post and Indian Observer Post does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

THIS STORY ON FACEBOOK - https://bit.ly/2SlmpLA

ALSO READ

Building Cool and 'Climate-Smart' Indian Cities

By Dr. Komali Yenneti - https://bit.ly/2WjxEmw