Originally published by The Times Of India
Panaji: The state government has formed a state crisis group to deal with major chemical accidents and provide expert guidance so that major incidents can be averted in Goa. The state crisis groups will be aided by district-level crisis management groups and will jointly prepare emergency plans to handle chemical accidents.
The committees will also oversee storage and import of hazardous chemicals, rules and forward a report to the central central crisis group once in three months.
While the state group is headed by the chief secretary, the two district-level groups will be chaired by the respective district collectors.
“The state crisis group shall be the apex body to deal with major chemical accidents and to provide expert guidance for handling them,” joint secrcretary (Environment & Climate Change) Dasharath Redkar said.
Goa has several industrial units and hazardous chemical storstorage installations, particularly Zuari Agro Chemicals, petroleum tanks and naphtha and ammonia tanks.
In 2011, a naphtha leak in the port town of Vasco sparked off a major fire. More recently, in 2018, an ammonia-laden tanker overturned at Chicalim and started spewing gas, which resulted in sever people getting hospitalised.
The state crisis group has also been tasked with reviewing the off-site emergency plans prepared by the district-level groups and examining the adequacy of the plan based on the manufacture and storage of hazardous chemicals.
As per the notification, both groups will have representation from the private sector along with secretaries of the health , environment, industries, transport and labour.
The district crisis group will have to conduct at least one full-scale mock drill of a chemical accident each year and forward a report of the strength and the weakness of the plan to the state crisis group.
The district groups are also responsible for monitoring every chemical accident that occurs within a particular district and will have to keep the Centre and the Centre and the state group in the loop whenever one occurs.
