The High-Power Committee constituted by the State government to inquire into the incident of styrene monomer vapour leak in LG Polymer India on May 7 is expected to meet here on Saturday.
Twelve persons were killed and many were hospitalised after they inhaled the vapour that leaked from one of the storage tanks in the chemical plant located at R.R. Venkatapuram village in the city.
The committee is headed by Special Chief Secretary (Environment and Forests) Neerabh Kumar Prasad, and comprises three members – Special Chief Secretary (Industries and Commerce) R. Karikal Valaven, Visakhapatnam district Collector V. Vinay Chand, and City Police Commissioner R.K. Meena. A.P. Pollution Control Board member-secretary Vivek Yadav is its member-convener.
The HPC, besides holding a discussion with the expert committee it constituted on Saturday, will meet the stakeholders, local and affected populace, and environment and rights groups on Sunday.
The expert committee comprises of V.S.R.K. Prasad, Director of Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy, Bala Prasad, professor in the Department Civil Environmental Engineering, Andhra University, and K.V. Rao, former professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Andhra University.
It is learnt that they will also organise an online discussion with experts recommended by the Central government such as Director-General of Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology S.K. Nayak, Additional Director of Central Pollution Control Board Bharat Kumar Sharma, Deputy Directorate General of Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes R.K. Elangovan, and Director of Indian Institute of Petroleum Anjan Ray.
It is also learnt that the expert committee has already submitted its interim report two days ago.
