Vizag chemical plant licence may get revoked if it is found flouting environmental norms: Official

The licence of the Vishakhapatnam chemical plant may get revoked if it is found flouting environmental norms, an environment ministry official said on Thursday on the gas leak incident that claimed 11 lives and impacted about 1000 people.

The official said the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is looking into the matter and will soon come out with a report.

"The NDMA is investigating the matter. The report should be out soon. If the plant is found flouting environment safety norms, we will cancel its licence. It is premature to say anything else right now," the official told PTI.

Gas leaked from the chemical plant in Visakhapatnam in the early hours of Thursday and quickly spread to villages in a five-kilometre radius. Many collapsed to the ground as they tried to escape the toxic vapours.

Hours after the styrene gas leak around 2.30 am from the multinational L G Polymers Plant at R R Venkatapuram village near here, scores of people could be seen lying unconscious on sidewalks, near ditches and on the road, raising fears of a major industrial disaster.