Gas leak at a pharma company in Parawada, Visakhapatnam

Panic arose at Pharma City, Visakhapatnam after a gas leak occurred at Admiron Life Sciences Private Limited on Thursday. It is a pharmaceutical company, located in Jawaharlal Nehru Pharmaceutical City, in Parawada Mandal of Visakhapatnam District. The gas leak reportedly happened in the morning spreading over a 5-7 km radius in Tadi Village. As soon as the gas leak was discovered, the staff and nearby village residents were alerted and they ran to safety. With no casualties reported, the situation was brought under control by noon. 

According to the Parawada Police, it was a minor leak from one of the valves at the factory which was plugged within 30 minutes. The pharma company is yet to ascertain the type of gas that leaked. Fortunately, there were no casualties reported or any material loss. 

Soon, after learning about the gas leak, residents of Tadi Village reached the spot. They demanded that the Andhra Pradesh State Government take necessary action on those companies who fail to maintain safety norms to avoid such incidents. According to the residents, living in the vicinity of these pharma companies, they are constantly afraid of gas leaks or fire incidents occurring at these companies. After a series of industrial accidents in the area, all nearby villages, except for Tadi, have been relocated. Apparently, the residents of Tadi were reluctant to move when the AP State Government had earlier decided to shift the village. But in view of this recent gas leak, they are now appealing to the State Government for relocation. 

With about 100 companies located in Pharma City, many of them operate with hazardous chemicals and products. In the last five years, there have been at least 30 accidents at Pharma City that left a number of people dead or injured. In June 2020, a gas leak in one of the pharma companies in Visakhapatnam killed two and many were suffocated. In July 2020, another fire incident and reactor blast in a solvents company had killed two. The huge blast at the reactor and the rising fire had worried the locals.