The accident at Sainor Life Sciences, which claimed the lives of two workers and left four others ill, was the second such incident at the plant.
A reactor blast at the same plant had claimed two lives in 2015, which indicates the callousness of the enforcement officials concerned, CPI State assistant secretary J.V. Satyanarayana Murthy has said.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Mr. Murthy found fault with the authorities for including the Deputy Chief Inspector of Factories and the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) as members of the committee appointed to inquire into the mishap.
Holding the Factories Department and the APPCB indirectly responsible for the mishap, Mr. Murthy demanded an inquiry by an independent team under the auspices of a sitting High Court judge and action against the company management as well as enforcement officials concerned for failing to discharge their duties.
The CPI leader attributed the frequent industrial accidents to the proliferation of pharma companies in north Andhra.
“After 2010, accidents have been occurring every year resulting in the death of workers. Failure of the enforcement authorities to review the safety norms at regular intervals is also responsible for the recurring accidents. The APPCB is failing to initiate any action against the erring industries for releasing chemical waste into the atmosphere without proper treatment,” he alleged.
The High-Power Committee, appointed to probe the styrene monomer leak at LG Polymers plant, has not submitted its report so far, though the deadline for submission of the same expired on June 30, Mr. Murthy said. He alleged that the government was deliberately delaying the disclosure of the report and demanded a comprehensive study by an independent team of experts on the safety aspects being followed at chemical industries in north Andhra to initiate remedial measures.