A meeting of the District Crisis Group (DCG) was held here on Thursday. Chaired by Collector Parul Patwari, it discussed preparation of the district off-site emergency plan to deal with major chemical accidents and its prevention as well as to provide expert guidance for managing chemical mishaps.
According to official sources, as many as nine industries functioning in Paradip port town are highly accident prone followed by five industries which fall under category of accident susceptible while 78 units come under vulnerable category bearing hazardous chemicals and gases.
The DCG is an apex body in the district to oversee the major industrial accidents. It ensures that the industries conduct at least one full-scale mock drill at site each year, and the report is forwarded to the State crisis group citing its shortfall with regard to mitigation efforts.
Director of Factories and Boilers, Cuttack division Deputy Director Manoj Kumar Panda urged giving training to drivers handling chemical and gas-laden heavy vehicles and introducing a massive awareness drive on chemical and industrial disasters and its preventive measures.
The meeting was attended by representatives of major industries, Pollution Control Board Environmental Engineer DL Mohapatra, DIC General Manager Jagamohan Pati, RTO Nirmal Chandra Mohanty, District Emergency Officer Umesh Chandra Lenka and DIPRO Kaminiranjan Pattnaik. Several industrial houses displayed power-point presentations in connection to combating any industrial mishap.