AP minister visits families of gas leak tragedy victims, hands over ex-gratia of Rs 1 crore

Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) [India], May 11 (ANI): District in-charge Minister K Kannababu on Monday met the family members of the people who died in the Visakhapatnam gas leak tragedy and handed-over the ex-gratia amount of Rs 1 crore, as announced by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
The Group of Ministers (GoM) visited the houses of the deceased to hand over the cheques of Rs 1 crore to each family and monitored the clean-up operation of the areas surrounding the plant.
"The incident occurred on May 7 and within four days of the mishap, we are providing compensation to the affected families. This is the true indication of the commitment of our Chief Minister, who has been constantly reviewing the situation with officials," Kannababu told ANI.
The Minister said like never before by any State government, the Chief Minister announced Rs 1 crore ex-gratia to the kin of those who have lost their lives in the tragedy.
"Those who are in hospitals for serious ailment would get Rs 10 lakh each. Also, all the families residing in the affected villages are to be compensated with Rs 10,000 each. The entire cost of hospitalisation will be borne by the government," he added.
Meanwhile, Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao said that the State government is taking up all the required measures to normalise the situation in the five affected villages, where sanitisation work is in progress.
"All the public spaces including open drains, sewage canals are being cleaned and sanitised. We are also going to provide sanitation liquids to the households for indoor cleaning purposes," Rao said.
Currently, Rao said, the emission levels have been nullified and people are returning homes.
Meanwhile, according to an official statement, 13,000 tonnes of Styrene gas is being sent back to South Korea even as the civic staff has been sanitising the entire area and creating awareness among the locals about the safety measures after the gas leak and how to dust away the residuals.
The Andhra Pradesh government had on Friday sanctioned Rs 30 crore towards ex-gratia and financial assistance for the victims of the Vizag gas leak incident.
On Thursday styrene gas leak at LG Polymers plant in RR Venkatapuram village in Visakhapatnam district claimed 11 lives.
An FIR has been registered against LG Polymers in connection with the incident. (ANI)