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Order of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh regarding leakage of poisonous gas from LG Polymers factory at Visakhapatnam, 22/05/2020

  • 22/05/2020

Order of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh at Amaravathi in the matter of WP (PIL) No 112 of 2020 and WP (PIL) No 117 of 2020 dated 22/05/2020. The matter related to leakage of poisonous gas from LG Polymers factory at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court issued some interim directions which include the following:

1) The premises of the company shall be completely seized and no one be allowed to enter into the premises including the directors of the company

2) None of the assets, movable or immovable, fixture, machinery and contents shall be allowed to be shifted without the leave of the court 

3)"In regard to the grievance shown regarding appointment of various Committees by the National Green Tribunal, Central Government and State Government; the Central Government and State Government are at liberty to apprise as to which Committee shall fulfill the purpose to answer all quests in issue," the order said.

The High Court also directed report to be filed on the net worth of LG Polymers Pvt, Ltd., "as per the provisions of the Companies Act, , but not as per the book value." Further, the court asked for explaination as to how LG Polymers had been operating without a valid Environmental Clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and even though the inhibitor concentration in the storage was not checked and refrigeration system was not working properly, the plant was still operating without rectifying the deficiencies. Also the bystander population was not warned of the risk they were at and trained in evacuation procedures in the event of an accident as per the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989.