Bench also forms panel to probe incident

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday directed LG Polymers India to deposit an initial amount of 50 crore for the damage caused by the gas leak in Visakhapatnam.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel also issued notice to the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board, Central Pollution Control Board and the Union Environment Ministry, seeking their response on the incident by May 18.
The green panel also constituted a five-member fact-finding committee, to be headed by a former A.P. High Court judge, to probe the incident and furnish a report to the tribunal.
The committee may specifically report on the sequence of events, causes of failure and persons and authorities responsible, extent of damage to life, human and non-human, public health and environment including water, soil and air, steps to be taken for compensation of victims and restitution of the damaged property and environment and the cost involved, the bench said.
The directions came after the green panel took suo motu cognisance of the gas leak incident that left at least 11 people dead and affected several others.