MUMBAI (UCAN): India’s fight against Covid-19 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) hit a major hurdle following three industrial accidents, including a major gas leak in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
At least 11 people were killed and over 350 injured on the morning of May 7 after styrene monomer gas leaked from a South Korean-owned LG Polymers plant which makes polystyrene products in the city. In the second incident, eight people were injured in a boiler blast at a government-owned thermal power plant near Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu. Seven people were injured in the third incident in Raigarh town in Chhattisgarh when they were exposed to poisonous gas that leaked from a paper-producing factory.
Hundreds ran for safety through congested lanes, forgetting social distancing measures established to check the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus. People in nearby areas complained of irritation in eyes, breathlessness, nausea and rashes.
However, experts said no studies had established death from short-term exposure to styrene gas. The government reportedly launched a probe.
The gas leak brought back bad memories of the Bhopal gas tragedy that killed 3,000 people instantly and thousands more on successive days when methyl isocyanate gas leaked from the America-owned Union Carbide factory on the night of 2 to 3 December in 1984.
Church looks to help
Oswald Cardinal Gracias, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, expressed “deep shock” at the Andhra Pradesh tragedy. He said Caritas India was in touch with local authorities “to see how we can help.”
The incident has “put added pressure on those already stressed” in their efforts to check the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, Cardinal Gracias said.
In rushing the injured to hospital and helping trapped people out of the accident sites, police and volunteers ignored social distancing norms.
“Our prayers are with them for strength and courage,” said the cardinal said in a statement.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court took suo moto cognisance of the accident and issued notices to the state and federal governments. It asked how such the plant, which dates back to 1961 and sits in a densely operated area was allowed to operate amid human habitations.
Police said tha the management of the Korean firm was booked on charges including culpable homicide not amounting to murder and causing death by negligence,
India has had bad experience with disasters largely due to corporate negligence, but the rate of accountability has been weak.
