The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday has identified operational ‘failure’ as the cause of the gas leak at Visakha Solvents Ltd in Visakhapatnam.

The mishap that occurred on July 13, 2020, at Ramky CETP Solvents building in Pharma City, Visakhapatnam, left one dead and three severely injured.

Also read: Major fire mishap at Visakha Solvents’ plant in Vizag; 1 injured

Citing the report , the tribunal said, “The cause of the incident was the reduction of the boiling point of the mixture on account of inefficient working and failure to observe requisite safeguards by the management.”

It has also asked the Andhra Pradesh government to direct the red category industries to carry out safety audits and risk management study and to prepare on-site and off-site emergency plans in compliance with existing norms.

That will help in identifying and the possible risks from the industry and to implement appropriate risk mitigation measures and strategies.

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“Detail management plan needs to be developed for safety measures. The district administration and urban development shall exercise caution and shall not accord permission for construction of residences in the vicinity of large red category industries/ industrial estates/ industrial areas,” the order said.

On the compensation of ₹50 lakh per deceased person fixed by the Government, the tribunal said it was “adequate”. However, it also asked Ramky Pharma City and Visakha Solvents to jointly pay ₹30 lakh as environmental compensation to the Central Pollution Control Board.

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