Cheques of ₹1 crore each were handed over to the legal heirs of eight persons, who died in the styrene vapour leak at the LG Polymers plant at RR Venkatapuram, by district in-charge Minister Kurasala Kannababu and Ministers Botcha Satyanarayana, Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao and Dharmana Krishna Das at the King George Hospital (KGH) here on Monday.
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had announced an ex gratia of ₹1 crore to the dependants of each of those died in the gas tragedy during his visit to the disaster site on the day of the mishap on Thursday. The Ministers visited the KGH and interacted with the gas leak victims, who are undergoing treatment there on Monday.
Mr. Kannababu said that the legal heirs of eight victims were finalised and the cheques were handed over to them. The remaining four cheques would be handed over to the legal heirs, as soon as they were finalised. He said the emission levels were nearly zero and residents of the four villages, surrounding the plant, would be allowed to go back to their homes after sanitation of lanes and bylanes was completed by Monday evening. He said they (the Ministers) would stay in the affected villages on Monday night.
Mr. Srinivasa Rao said that styrene vapour was under total control and appealed to the public not to believe rumours in the social media. He asked the adults to return around 4 p.m. and ensure proper sanitisation of their homes after which children and senior citizens could go home. Medical camps would also be conducted in the affected villages from Tuesday.
Refuting allegations being made in a section of the media, Mr. Satyanarayana said the government was only concerned about the welfare of the affected people and has no sympathy for the company management. To a question, he said that permission for expansion of plant were given during the tenure of former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. No new permissions were given by the present government, he added.