Jagan takes note of Anakapelle gas leak, orders safety audit in all industries

Anakapalle: After a gas leak occurred in a garment factory that left over a hundred hospitalised in Anakapalle district, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday took note of the situation and ordered safety audit in all the industries of the state.

The decision came in wake of the gas leak incident that was reported in Achyutapuram SEZ of the Anakapalle district.

“The CM reviewed the situation with the officials and enquired about the medical assistance being provided to the victims. Apart from finding out the reasons, he also ordered focus on the measures to be taken to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future,” read an official statement by the chief minister’s office

The state chief also ordered officials to consider the issue of the gas leak seriously and to form a high-level committee on the incident.

As many as 121 women workers were affected and are being treated in various hospitals in the Anakapalle district after the accident at the factory.

Earlier in June, about 178 women workers fell sick after a gas leak at a laboratory in the Atchutapuram area of the state’s Visakhapatnam, following which the government set up a joint committee to ascertain the cause. It was suspected that leakage of air conditioning gas was the cause.

Speaking about the latest incident, Industries Minister Gudivada Amarnath said the cause of the gas leakage was yet to be ascertained and the police and pollution control board teams were investigating the matter.

According to the Vishakhapatnam district officials, 53 people were admitted for treatment in a government hospital, while 41 others were undergoing treatment in other hospitals of the district.
Amarnath said some samples were also sent to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for a more detailed examination.

Earlier, the District Medical and Health Officer of Anakapalle, Hemanth had said that most of the patients complained about difficulty in breathing, nausea, and vomiting.

As per the reports, initially, about 50 people were shifted to hospital after they fell ill on Tuesday due to the gas leakage that took place at Brandix premises, after which the employees ran out gripped by panic.