On Wednesday, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered that the amount of Rs 50 crore deposited by LG Polymers India Ltd with Govt. of Andhra Pradesh be spent for restoration of environment & for part compensation to victims of Styrene gas leak from the company’s Visakhapatnam plant, which claimed 12 lives on May 7.
A 3-member bench of the tribunal headed by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said the final quantum of compensation to be paid by the company will be decided by a committee comprising representatives from the ministry of environment & forests (MoEF), central pollution control board (CPCB) & national environmental engineering research institute (NEERI) to be constituted within 2 weeks.
The NGT suggested that another committee comprising 2 representatives each from MoEF, CPCB & 3 representatives of state Govt be formed to work out the restoration plan in the affected villages within 2 months.
The NGT bench asked the Govt. of Andhra Pradesh to take action against the officials responsible for permitting South Korean firm LG Polymers India Ltd to operate its plant at Visakhapatnam without statutory licences.
It observed that the company hadn’t obtained environmental clearance & the state pollution control board, on account of its ignorance of the law or otherwise, gave the ‘Consent to Establish’ & ‘Consent to Operate’ in violation of the law.
The bench said the LG Polymers has absolute liability for the environmental damage & consequential loss, including to life & public health, due to leakage of Styrene vapour. It said the Govt. could go ahead with any criminal or other statutory proceedings against the company in accordance with the law.
The bench ordered the state chief secretary to take action against those who had given permission to the company to operate & submit the action taken report within two months. The case was posted to Nov 3 for further hearings.
The tribunal also ordered that the company cannot recommence its operations without requisite statutory clearances which could be given only after the examination of the tribunal.
It also suggested that the environment ministry constitutes an expert committee to suggest ways & means to prevent violation of environmental norms & recurrence of such incidents in future. It asked the ministry to submit an action taken report within three months.
The tribunal, quoting the reports of the expert committee, observed that the LG Polymers India & its Korean principal LG Chem betrayed lack of experience in monitoring & maintaining full tanks of Styrene that had been lying idle for several weeks without operation because of lockdown.
The NGT said that “Even the storage tank from which the gas leaked was of old design & this possibly contributed to the problem. Operators & any industrial persons are not aware of control measures in such a situation is the main cause”.
The LG Polymers didn’t present their version, except arguing that the Tribunal had no powers to take up the case suo motu, as the issue was pending in the Apex Court.
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