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In wake of the oil spill off Chennai coast, Odisha Government has asked the Jagatsinghpur district administration to prepare an action plan to avoid any such disaster off Paradip coast.
At the State Crisis Management Group (CMG) meeting here, Chief Secretary AP Padhi directed Jagatsinghpur Collector to convene a meeting of the stakeholders so that a detailed work plan could be chalked out.
Paradip Port authorities, Coast Guard, Forest and Environment Department, State Pollution Control Board apart from local stakeholders would be part of the plan.
Padhi asked industrial units to shift their hazardous units, chemicals and gas storages from heavily populated areas as well as from close vicinity of towns to a safe distance. The companies have also been cautioned that enforcement would be stringent in case of their failure to shift the hazardous units to safe locations within a specified time period.
The government has also asked companies dealing with the explosives and hazardous chemicals to put in place an internal mechanism and standard operating procedure (SOP) ready for prevention of any crisis and immediate response to any emergency situation. The CMG also emphasised that emergency drills must be conducted at regular intervals to ensure safety and response mechanisms are in a state of readiness.
Development Commissioner R Balakrishnan said the industries must share the SOPs with district administration so that ODRAF, fire stations and rapid action teams can come to their rescue in case of exigencies.
The meeting also decided that industries would put in place an internal surveillance system for the regular safety audits to identify potential threats. Field functionaries of Directorate of Factories and Boilers were also instructed to enforce compliance of the measures suggested through safety audits. Principal Secretary, Labour and ESI G Srinivas said around 34 such compliances were ensured during 2016.
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