Visakhapatnam: Rumours of a fresh vapour spread from the LG Polymers plant near here only heightened the fears of people of the five villages around the unit after Thursday's styrene vapour leakage but the government machinery stepped in to assuage their anxiety, asserting that there was no such leak.
State Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney, who reviewed the situation with the Visakhapatnam district administration in the evening, put the toll in Thursday's incident at 12.
The villagers may have to wait for another 48 hours till normalcy is established and they could return home from the relief camps set up in the city even as technical experts from Gujarat and Nagpur got fully engaged in the task of neutralizing the styrene.
The PTBC inhibitor that was airlifted from Gujarat to Visakhapatnam was put to use on Friday evening to neutralize the effect of styrene.
With the state government asking them to stay back in the relief camps until further advice, the over 10,000 evacuees are spending a rather uneasy time.
The state government is providing food to these people.
As more than 454 villagers, majority of them from RR Venkatapuram where the polymers plant is located, are still in hospital undergoing treatment for various medical conditions, their kin are also holed up in the hospitals tending to them.
Post-mortem on the bodies of the deceased was completed on Friday evening and the bodies were handed over to their families.
As most of the victims hailed from neighbouring districts like Vizianagaram and Srikakulam, the bodies were taken to their native places for cremation.
"Of the total 454 people undergoing treatment in various hospitals, 20 were having major problems," Sawhney said.
"All of them were recovering," she added.
"The temperature is still around 120 degrees in the styrene tank and the situation will come under control in the next 48 hours.
Watering of the styrene tank will continue for the next 24 hours and we will observe the density of the vapour in the air," Sawhney told reporters.
On Friday, the density of styrene was found to be 0.2 parts per million in RR Venkatapuram but zero in Vepagunta and other places.
Hence, she advised people of the villages to stay in the relief camps till the situation returned to normal.
The state government released Rs 30 crore to the Visakhapatnam district collector to distribute Rs one crore each as ex-gratia to the kin of the deceased and other assistance to those hospitalised.
In accordance with the Chief Ministers announcement, Rs 10,000 would be handed over to each family in the five villages.
(PTI REPORT)
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