Vizag gas leak: SC refuses to interfere with NGT order directing LG Polymers to pay 50 cr

In another development in the Vizag gas leak tragedy which claimed 12 lives, the Supreme Court has refused to interfere with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order issued earlier. The NGT had directed LG Polymers, the owners of the plant where the gas leak happened, to deposit Rs 50 crores for the damage caused by the Styrene gas leak. 

A bench headed by Justice Uday Umesh Lalit on Tuesday refused to entertain the petition filed by LG polymers challenging the order of the NGT. "We can't interfere at this stage as the matter is seized by the NGT,"  the apex court observed. The court has stated that the matter can be raised before the NGT on June 1 and has kept it pending for consideration on June 8.

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Apart from directing LG Polymers to pay Rs 50 crores, the NGT had also directed setting up of a 5-member committee headed by former Andhra Pradesh High Court judge B Seshasayana Reddy to visit and inspect the site at the earliest and submit a report before the next date of hearing in the matter. 

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'No SM left at the LG Polymers plant in Vizag'

LG Polymers on Monday said it has completed transportation of its inventory of deadly Styrene Monomer (SM) from Visakhapatnam to South Korea. It has shipped the entire stock lying at its Visakhapatnam plant and styrene tanks that were at the local port there, said LG Polymers, a step-down firm of South Korean Petro giant LG Chem, said in a statement.

"There is now no SM left at the LG Polymers plant in Vizag," LG Polymers Managing Director Jeong Sunkey said. Besides, an eight-member team sent by the South Korean company from its Seoul headquarter to investigate the Visakhapatnam gas leak incident and rehabilitate the victims of the tragedy that killed at least 11 people and forced the evacuation of thousands has started its work.

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(Image Courtesy: PTI)