Villagers seek closure of Nagarjuna pesticide plant------------INDUSTRY IS MENT FOR HUMAN WELFARE AND FOOD SECURITY

APPCB orders closure of Nagarjuna Agrichem Limited    ----------Nagarjuna group 100 % compliance with ALL laws, ACTS, RULES , SECTION , CLAUSE & REGULATION BY FOLLOWING SYSTEMS  it is an incident CLOSE TO ACCIDENT.

  SRIKAKULAM: Following the pleas of locals and factory workers, The AP Pollution Control Board (PCB) on Monday ordered closure of the Nagarjuna Agrichem Limited (NACL) unit citing violation of pollution norms and lack of safety standards. A task force headed by senior environmental engineer K Ramesh handed over the closure notice of the plant issued by PCB member-secretary M Ravichandra to the factory officials at Chilakapalem village in Etcherla mandal.
Earlier, people of 12 villages continued their stir demanding permanent closure of the plant by conducting rasta roko on the national highway. Traffic was paralysed for three hours as hundreds of vehicles were stranded on both sides of the road. Minister T G Venkatesh's vehicle was also stopped by the agitators for 45 minutes and relented only after he gave them an assurance of bringing the matter to the notice of the chief minister.
PCB officials also issued the order copy to the EPDCL authorities to stop power supply to the plant till further orders. Sources said the PCB ordered the plant management that the unit would be closed till further orders. The district collector had issued temporary closure orders of the plant on Sunday based on a report from the joint chief inspector of factories. Sources said the PCB officials imposed a cut in the production of the plant following frequent complaints about rising pollution levels.
The NACL management deposited Rs 25 lakh with the PCB for high levels of pollution in the surrounding villages. Sources said the PCB authorities had warned NACL after the plant started releasing effluents and polluted water to the nearby areas. After much prodding, the plant management invested Rs 40 crore on sophisticated equipment to treat the contaminated water, sources revealed.
During their inspections, the PCB officials found the water used to douse the fire in the recent mishap was itself hazardous as there were chemical substances in it. Ramesh said that they found that one agricultural borewell near the plant was polluted with the effluents from the plant in the past. Ironically, pollution control equipment was gutted in the fire and it would take nearly one year to erect the equipment, sources said.
Meanwhile, NACL management told Bombay Stock Exchange that they were assessing the loss in last Saturday's fire. It said only 14 workers were injured and ruled out death of any worker. It also said that production has been temporarily stopped.

The HinduVillagers staging a protest seeking closure of the pesticide plant at Chilakapalem highway junction in Srikakulam on Sunday. Photo: Basheer

‘Rasta roko’ organised on Srikakulam-Visakhapatnam highway

A day after the massive blast and gas leak at the Nagarjuna Agrichem plant near Chilakalapalem, agitated locals on Sunday staged a protest accusing the management of making life miserable for thousands of people in and around 15 villages of Rajam, Ponduru and Etcherla mandals. They alleged that the management had thrown safety and pollution norms to the winds.

Several villagers with the support of opposition parties, including the CPI (M) and the BJP, organised a ‘rasta roko’ on the busy Srikakulam-Visakhapatnam highway leading to a traffic jam between Etcherla and Ranasthalam. The ‘rasta roko’ between Chilkalapalem and Rajam continued till 3 p.m. Heavy police force was deployed to avert untoward incidents. The villagers, firm on staging the protest till evening, had a heated argument with the revenue and the police officials.

“We have been leading a difficult life for the last two decades. The officials have not responded properly to the threat posed by the plant. We will continue the agitation till the closure of the plant,” said P. Lakshmana Rao and V. Govindrarajulu, residents of Akkivalasa village.

‘NOTICES IGNORED’

CPI(M) State secretariat member Ch. Narasinga Rao said groundwater and air pollution in all the villages such as Chilakapalem, Akkivalasa, Kesavadasupuram would end only if the plant was closed. “The State government should initiate stringent action against the management since it had ignored the previous notices of the Pollution Control Board and district administration,” he added.

Meanwhile, Srikakulam RDO G. Damodar issued a show cause notice to Nagarjuna Agrichem to explain reasons for the blast and also for ignoring previous notices issued by various departments.