Visakhapatnam: Seeds Intimate shuts down unit once again

Visakhapatnam: Following the twogas leak incidents at Seeds Intimate Apparel City at Atchutapuram in Anakapalli, the unit was ordered to shut down again.

A day after the second gas leak incident happened at the unit, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy ordered a high-level inquiry to investigate the details.

On Tuesday, as many as 121 employees of Seeds Intimate fell sick and admitted to five hospitals, including NTR Government Hospital.

After interacting with the hospital authorities and victims, IT Minister Gudivada Amarnath said Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy instructed the officials concerned to ensure that all the affected employees return home safe after getting completely recovered. The District Collector P Ravi Subhash and Superintendent of Police Gowthami Sali are closely monitoring the situation.

The employees working during the shift complained of breathlessness, vomiting and chest pain at the workplace on Tuesday. One of the employees mentioned that despite expressing discomfort at the unit, the employees were asked to complete the assigned work instead of allowing them to evacuate the building. "This had only worsened the situation," she pointed out.

According to Brandix spokesperson, the affected employees were under observation for 24 hours and 98 of them were discharged by Wednesday night.

A committee was formed to trace the origin of the earlier gas leak, including experts and Professors from Andhra University. The residue from the air conditioning unit was collected and sent to the lab. According to the lab report submitted during the previous incident, the presence of complex gases could not be brushed aside. "Further investigation is required before arriving at a conclusion and the final report will be submitted by the concerned department," the IT Minister informed.

Meanwhile, demanding criminal action against the Brandix management, member of AITUC national council B Venkata Rao along with others submitted a memorandum to the IT Minister.

CPM party activists and leaders led a dharna at national highway Anakapalli demanding justice be meted out to the employees of the Brandix who were affected for the second time in the gas leak incident.

Also, TDP leaders, including former MLC Buddha Naga Jagadish, staged a protest. Some of them were bundled up and shifted to the police station. Former minister Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy and former MLA Anakapalli Peela Govinda Satyanarayana demanded judicial inquiry into the gas leak incident.