Tension grips villages near NACL mishap site

Tension prevailed for hours near Chilakapalem and the surrounding 10 villages till the fire was finally brought under control. “There was an unbearable smell of chemicals following the blast. We tried to move away fearing further blasts,” said a family from Pedaraopalli, situated near the plant. However, many families from 10 villages like Arinam, Akkivalasa and Beerapeta could not go anywhere as the highway was blocked.

“We had no information about the status of the fire. We were totally confused about what was going on,” said another villager.

“Special measures were taken to evacuate the surrounding villagers by

R.V. Rangachalam, N. Ramanayya and P. Jagadeeswara Rao were referred to KGH, as they had problems breathing

11.30 am, in case if the situation demanded. However, we realised that there would be no more blasts, as the unit was shut down and thus there was no need for evacuation,” said collector G. Venkatrami Reddy who monitored the situation.

Srikakulam RIMS pro- fessor Sunil Nayak confirmed that three workers had been referred to the KGH, while the other 16 received minor injuries. “R.V. Rangachalam, N. Ramanayya and P. Jagadeeswara Rao were referred to KGH as they were having problems breathing and were injured as well,” he added.

NACL president (operations) Rama Raju said, “Investigations are on to trace the exact cause of the incident. Plant operations have been stopped for two days.”

Meanwhile, irate villagers gheraoed local MLA M. Neelakanta Swami Naidu, complaining about chemicals being released in the air and affecting their crops. As the situation became tense, the police asked the MLA to return.