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Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on Thursday morning to assess the steps being taken in response to the Vishakhapatnam gas leak incident, the government said in an official statement.
“He discussed at length the measures being taken for the safety of the affected people, as well as to secure the site affected by the disaster,” the statement said.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Interior Minister Amit Shah, and Ministers of State for Internal Affairs Nityanand Rai and G. Kishan Reddy and other senior officials also attended the meeting.
“Upon receiving the first information about the incident this morning, the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Interior spoke with CM, Andhra Pradesh and secured all the help and assistance from the Center necessary to address the situation. They are monitoring the situation closely and continuously, “he said.
Eleven people have died in the incident so far and another 300 have been hospitalized.
Immediately after this meeting, the cabinet secretary held a detailed review meeting with the secretaries of the ministries of home affairs, environment, forests and climate change, chemicals and petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, information and dissemination; members of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and director general (DG), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF); general director of health services (DGHS) and director AIIMS, and other medical experts; to map out specific steps to support the management of the situation on the ground.
“It was decided that a team from NDRF Pune’s CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) unit, along with an expert team from the National Research Institute for Environmental Engineering (NEERI), Nagpur would be transferred to Vishakhapatnam immediately to support to the State Government in managing the crisis on the ground, and also to take measures to resolve the medical impact of the leak in the short and long term, “the statement said.
The styrene gas leak occurred at a chemical plant at 3 am in the village of RR Venkatapuram, Gopalapatnam Mandal in the Visakhpatnam district. It affected the surrounding towns, namely Narava, B.C Colony, Bapuji Nagar, Kampalapalem and Krishna Nagar. Styrene gas, which is toxic in nature, can cause skin, eye and respiratory irritation and other medical conditions.
“The NDRF in Vishakhapatnam was immediately deployed to support the state government and local administration. The NDRF team carried out the immediate evacuation of the communities living in the immediate vicinity of the site, ”the statement said.
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