The State Cabinet has approved an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of those killed in the LPG tanker explosion on road in Kannur last week.
Those who have received severe burn injuries would receive Rs 5 lakh each, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy announced here on Monday.
19 KILLED
Nineteen people have been killed in the accident as on Monday. Five more are battling for life in hospitals.
The bullet tanker lorry was coming from Mangalore to Chelari filling station of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) in Kozhikode district when it rammed a road divider at midnight last Thursday (August 27), near the Chala bypass between Kannur and Thalassery.
The leaking LPG caught fire, letting off a towering inferno that consumed everything in the vicinity, grievously injuring at least 35 people. Forty-five houses, 40 shops and 11 vehicles were gutted.
Speaking to newspersons after a Cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister said that the government would meet the hospital expenses of all those undergoing treatment for burn injuries.
JOB OFFER
It would also undertake to rebuild houses decimated by the killer fireball emerging in the wake of the worst ever accident in the State involving a gas tanker.
The State government would also request the IOC to provide at least one job to each of those families who have a lost a member in the tragedy.
It would ask the oil marketing company to pay a monthly pension of Rs 5,000 if the bereaved family is not able to spare a member to claim the job offer.
The Cabinet also decided in principle to set up a special ward at the Kannur district hospital to treat burn injuries.
It sanctioned release of funds for widening the Thazhe Chovva-Puthiya Theru road. Separately, a proposal for widening the Chala-Nadal road was being taken up.
The existing road divider at the site would be demolished. Authorities have been asked to suggest alternative proposals to minimise ‘accident threshold’ levels there.
TALKS WITH IOC
Meanwhile, the State government will initiate talks with the IOC to find alternate ways of plying gas tankers.
The Chief Secretary will meet with IOC authorities here on Tuesday in this connection. One option being actively thought of is to move in the tankers on rail.
It has also been proposed to stock up LPG at the LNG terminal at Kochi. Preliminary work on this is expected to start within the next month.
The State Government also proposed to limit, to the extent possible, movement of tankers from Mangalore by road.
The idea is to source LPG from the BPCL-Kochi refinery and distribute it to various districts in the State.