Two years ago on this day, Vizag experienced a styrene gas leak tragedy that occurred in the wee hours of the 7th of May in the port city of Visakhapatnam killing 12 persons and reportedly leading to the hospitalization of more than a thousand for difficulty in breathing and vision complaints. So did the death toll of animals is 32, including cows, buffalo, and dogs. More than 1000 people had suffered different forms of illnesses that ranged from the kidney to neurological issues and from gastrointestinal problems to issues related to vision. 

The grim scenes of howling cries, screaming pains and the lingering sorrow of losing loved ones for no fault of their own not only haunt the residents of Venkatapuram village, located in Pendurthi mandal, but also reverberates across nook and corner of the Visakhapatnam.

For Vizagites, it's a black day and one of the worst environmental disasters – the leakage of poisonous gas from a storage tank of LG Polymers Ltd, a South Korean company on the outskirts of the city. The leak was from one of two chemical tanks that had been left unattended since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 lockdown. The malfunctioning of the tank's refrigerating unit led to an increase in temperature, causing the liquid chemical, suspected to be styrene, to evaporate.

Many residents still say they dream of the traumatic incident many times in the last two years. Some wake up from nightmares in the middle of the night and find themselves covered in sweat, gasping for air, and confused, just like that night. Yet the management of the company responsible for the disaster went scot-free without any stretch of imagination of the cost of human tragedy and the lack of political will of the state government to prosecute the guilty.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that the plant was operating without a valid environment clearance for more than two decades. So, the styrene gas leak has raised questions over lack of compliance with the Standard Operating Protocol (SOP), mismanagement in the handling of the hazardous chemical, and lack of onsite and offsite emergency plans to control the after-effects of the accident.

Though Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has stated that the company would be held responsible for the incident and action would be taken against it, experts believe that a lack of stringent action against the erring industries by the Andhra Pradesh government has encouraged such defaulting industries.

Alluding to the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, environmentalists and experts said that lessons have not been learnt from it and the Visakhapatnam incident is a reminder to authorities to not allow chemical industries in close proximity to densely populated areas.  Public health experts advocated for a long term study to understand the impact on the health of people, water bodies and plants after a gas leak from an industrial plant.

Delivering a keynote address on the eve of the 2nd anniversary of LG Polymers Styrene Vapour leakage disaster organised by Alluri Sitaramaraju Vignana kendram and research centre here on Saturday at Visakhapatnam Public Library, Dr D Raghunatha Rao, former Director, Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Visakhapatnam and chief of medical oncology, KIMS-ICON Hospital said the dire need of the hour was to set up of a dedicated health hospital with state‑of‑the‑art facilities for monitoring the condition of and providing specialised treatment for the victims. "The gas-related disease categories have to be broadened, based on the information gathered by monitoring the population. In other words, there needs to be a styrene exposure risk stratification for individual victims and for an epidemiological study," Dr Rao opined.

Emphasising further Dr Rao said "A full-fledged hospital geared to meet the needs of any such disaster with a gamut of experts well-versed in the management of industrial disorders is very much needed for this industrial belt'.Since exposure to such toxic chemicals gas, the potential for long-term disability and possible links to a higher incidence of disorders caused by endocrine disruption (e g., Reproductive failure) and carcinogenesis, a clear-cut plan of action for a couple of generations of all those exposed must be put in place.

Dr Rao said the health data collected by the authorities concerned should be communicated to the population and submitted for publication in professional journals, and the victims had the right to access their medical records. Victim organisations should be adequately represented in the committees dealing with the disaster, and the criteria for compensation should include medical, economic, and social damage to the victims.

Denizens of Vizag spoke to Hello Vizag said this was not the first such incident in Vizag. We have already seen 30-40 accidents in the past few years where people have lost their lives or suffered injuries. But as no promoter was strictly punished or erring government officials booked, the industrial accidents continue unabated. 

Some of the industrialists in Vizag with whom this correspondent spoke, claimed that the gas leak is a clear case of human negligence. "Hazardous industries are vulnerable to mishaps and thus they need to follow standard safety procedures and do safety audits whenever they resume operations after a gap.