Andhra Pradesh: Two years on, styrene monomer still haunts people of Vizag

Twelve persons died and over 2,000 were hospitalised following the gas leak

Even after two years, the incident of styrene monomer fumes engulfing a part of the city still haunts the people of Visakhapatnam, especially in the villages of R.R. Venkatapuram, Padmapuram, BC Colony, Gopalapatnam, and Kamparapalem, that were affected the most.

On May 7, at around 3 a.m., the people of the five villages were woken up, as the fumes streamed into their nostrils. They poisonous fumes, choked the residents and disoriented them.

All the five villages are in the vicinity of the LG Polymers plant, from where the fumes leaked out of a storage tank on May 7, 2020. The residents of RR Venkatapuram were the worst hit, as the village abuts the chemical factory. Twelve persons died and over 2,000 were hospitalised within a span of three hours.

The family members of Annepu Chandramouli (19) are still to come to terms that the aspiring medical student, who was the son of a police constable, is no more. Chandramouli, who had gone to bed late that night after studying, was jolted out of sleep by the vapour. His visibility was affected and he was unable to breathe. The disoriented young man ran towards the balcony instead of the door and toppled down from the second floor to death.

Disoriented people choked to death on roads, as they tried to run away from the fumes that was encroaching their habitat, with the flow of the wind.

That day, the people of Vizag once again proved their resilience, as they jumped into action in no time. Even before the NDRF teams could arrive, the City Police personnel led by the then Commissioner of Police R.K. Meena, the GVMC team led by the then Commissioner G. Srijana and District Collector, evacuated the people braving the fumes.

According to the High Power Committee (HPC), set up by the State Government, about 1,000 people suffered different forms of illnesses that ranged from kidney to neurological issues and from gastrointestinal issues to problems related to vision.