The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Thursday took suo motu notice of media reports about the death of eight persons and over five thousand others falling sick due to leakage of styrene gas in the district early morning. The leakage of the gas has reportedly affected people within a radius of about 3 kilometers

The NHRC on Thursday issued a notices to Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney seeking a detailed report on rescue operation, treatment provided to the gas leak victims and relief and rehabilitation provided by the state government to the victims and their families. The Corporate Affairs Ministry was asked to probe whether norms laid down under relevant provisions of the law were properly implemented at the industrial unit.

The NHRC probe comes in the wake of a major gas leak from LG Polymers company in Visakhapatnam that has led to death of at least 10 people, including a child and two senior citizens. Two of them fell into well while trying to escape and died. Hundreds of gas leak victims were hospitalized following the leak, which took place at LG Polymers chemical plant owned at R R Venkatapuram around 2.30 am on Thursday after they inhailed toxic PVC gas (or Styrene) leaked from LG Polymers. Styrene gas is used to make plastics and rubber and can be dangerous. The gas had leaked out of two 5,000-tonne tanks that had been unattended due to coronavirus lockdown in place since late March. The plant was reopened after easing of the lockdown regulations without proper safety measures and adequate maintenance before starting production work led to the tragedy. The plant is owned by the South Korean company LG Corp.