Workers of an apparel manufacturing unit in the Brandix Special Economic Zone at Atchyutapuram, who fell sick on August 2 night due to what was suspected to be a mysterious gas leak, were stable as they were being treated in different hospitals. With the state government yet to issue a statement on the incident, the opposition parties lashed out at the former over its alleged failure to prevent such mishaps.
According to the latest count, some 95 workers fell sick with nausea and vomiting after they inhaled a pungent gas that filled the air at the manufacturing unit on Tuesday night.
They were undergoing treatment in hospitals in Anakapalli, Atchyutapuram and Visakhapatnam.
It was a second such incident in two months after the one on June 3 in the same place where more than 300 women workers fell unconscious after complaining of eyesore, nausea and vomiting. The state government has not made public the report submitted by a team of experts from the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology in Hyderabad on the June 3 gas leak.
The report of an official committee, headed by the Anakapalli district Joint collector, was also not revealed. On June 3, it was suspected that ammonia gas leaked from a nearby Porus Laboratories unit. A team of experts from the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology in Hyderabad visited the lab and conducted tests to determine the cause of the leak while the AP Pollution Control Board ordered closure of the lab.
The Porus lab was shut down for a few days after the mishap but soon resumed activities.
