PM Monitoring Vishakhapatnam Gas Leak Accident

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting this morning to take stock of the steps being taken in response to the Vishakhapatnam gas leak accident.

He discussed at length the measures being taken for the safety of the affected people as well as for securing the site affected by the disaster.

The meeting was attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Ministers of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai and G Kishan Reddy besides other senior officers.

On receiving the first information about the incident today morning, the Prime Minister and the Home Minister talked with the CM of Andhra Pradesh and assured all required and possible aid and assistance from the Centre to tackle the situation.

They are said to be continuing to monitor the situation closely and continuously.

It was decided that a team from the CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) unit of the NDRF from Pune, along with an expert team of the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, would be rushed to Vishakhapatnam immediately to support the state government in the management of the crisis on the ground, and also to take measures for resolving the short term as also the long term medical impact of the leak.

The NDRF team carried out immediate evacuation of the communities living in the immediate vicinity of the site.

The Styrene gas leakage occurred in a chemical plant in the early hours today, at 3 am, in RR Venkatapuram village, Gopalapatnam mandal, Visakhpatnam district. It affected the surrounding villages Narava, BC Colony, Bapuji Nagar, Kampalapalem and Krishna Nagar.

Styrene is a gas toxic in nature, and can cause irritation to the skin and eyes, respiratory problems, and other medical conditions.